The Illusion of Time: Story of A Witch Goddess
by TheHomeofTales
Summary: Hecate White has an extraordinary ability to make her dreams real. One day, in a lightning storm she conjured up, she and her friend Anna Beret are dragged through time and space to the Wizarding World. Though their entrance is a little bumpy, Hecate and Anna fit in easier than expected - But trouble arises as the War gets closer and Hecate decides to change time itself.
1. A Flashy Entrance

**First off, I own nothing J.K Rowling herself created. I only own my made up; names, characters, plot etc. You'd notice it – I don't really need to explain. Well, this is a slight bit different than other Hp fanfics, but I really don't care and I do apologise for grammar mishaps (if they show up).**

**Please, relax; sit back (or forward. I tend to) and enjoy. :D**

How do I begin? There are so many ways, yet none seem right. Well, maybe the beginning...

Long, long, ago there was a Big Bang – no I'm joking. I won't start there. I'll start with my slight obsession:

Time.

An existence that our minds create. Tomorrow, Yesterday, Now – We are born innocent of it, and grow up with the belief that each of those is separate. Time defines our life; every person worries about the time, when things were due, how old they were.

Soon I began to question; what is time? Is it a thing? A being? Did we make it up? Is the fact that someone lived till he was 100 years old, because he believed that it was the age limit, true? Is it possible?

But through the words of an old genius and an experience I can...never forget, I began to understand.

_Past, present and future is only an illusion, though a convincing one. _

When I understood that, a whole new world opened before me. I began revelling in the possibilities of time travel, separate universes, parallel worlds. I know, seems crazy (my foster mom got me tested – don't worry, I'm perfectly sane).

Thing is – I didn't just wake up one day and say "Hm, I wonder what time is?" No there was a link to it all.

You see...I kind of...have an ability. Technically a few (it's the main topic of my friend and mine's debate – she says I have multiple, but I think it all wraps up into one thing) but that is beside the point.

Um, well, back to the topic at hand.

My _ability_ doesn't really have a category (by that I mean you can't say I'm an elementalist, or telekinetic etc.) I kind of..._imagine_ things and they come to life – or come in to being is a better way of putting it.

I realise you are probably getting tired of my rambling, so I'll give it to you straight.

The tale you are about to experience, isn't the nicest by far, and in a way it's my fault -? Oh shut it Sirius! Well it is! I am _not_ self-pitying. Humph, stupid mutt.

Aha...that was Sirius, yeah...he has a part in this too...though minor – and by minor, I mean, _minor,_ he doesn't even show up, I think he gets me a drink of pumpkin juice or someth – No! Stop! Alright! Ok, you played a major part, so stop _tickling _me! Merlin Snuffles if you don't stop I will get James on your ass!

Ahem. Yes, so he had a part along with my ability. And my stupid curiosity.

Grin. Well, curiosity did kill the cat. Chuckle. What? Don't get it? Oh yeah, inside joke. Trust me, you'll understand later.

Oh right, you don't know anything about the story. Summary is in order. Well, here it is. My side on how I saved the Wizarding World.

And it all started seventeen years ago.

**_17 Years Earlier_**

Crash! The lightning struck around ten meters away from the porch where Anna and I were huddling.

"Woah! Did you _see_ that it was so damn close!" She gasped, shoving her glasses back up her nose as they began to slide down. "This is going to help my project so much! Your house really is a hot spot!"

I hide a smile at her fanatics. _Hot spot_, I rolled my eyes. _Sure_.

If only she knew. There wasn't going to be any lightning around my area until I thought there would be. A little trick of mine, and yes, I know my mom said not to do it in public, but she's not here to ground me – and hey, Anna's happy.

Eyes fixated on another patch of grass twenty feet away, I blinked and lightning struck. Smirk. Anna squealed in excitement. She's such a nerd – but she's my nerd. Hoping she was sated for another few minutes, I stared up into the abyss that flashes blue frequently.

Something about storms attracted me. It was wild, unpredictable, random and breath-taking. Kind of like me (not the breath-taking bit, unfortunately).

Soon I became lost in the natural war of the sky. _I wonder...if I could transport myself to another world through this storm. _I mused; yet again back on my time topic.

I really need a hobby.

"Uh, _hello_," Her country accent twanged, "Earth to Caty! Are you listening?"

I shook myself, snapping out of my little daydream. "Uh...what? Yeah. Of course I was. And my name is pronounced _KAY-TEE _not _CAT-EE_. I've told you that before. It is just spelt C-A-T-Y. Jeez." I rolled my eyes in irritation.

Blue orbs probed green, "You were thinking about time travel again weren't you?"

"No," I said defiantly, before mumbling, "I was thinking about universe travel."

She sighed, blowing her black hair out of her face, "Caty, I've told you this before – even if there was a way to travel universes, doing so would tear the fabric of time, you would being putting yourself in an era where for all you know could be in a fixed state. Think of the Butterfly Effect. "

"I think no one but me would understand what you just said. And the Butterfly Effect is stupid; I wouldn't be destroying anything because I would find a way to hold time together." I reasoned.

She snorted, "And how do you suppose you do that?"

I rolled on my back and stared into the sky, "I would simply think it." I hurried on quickly at Anna's stare, "Anyway, you don't work around the universe or time or whatever - it works around you. Time is an illusion."

"'Time is an illusion'? You would think it?" Anna scrunched up her face in confusion, "You have being reading _way_ too much Einstein."

I chuckled, "No one can read too much Einstein."

Anna rolled onto her back as well, bumping shoulders with me. "You know if you could travel to another universe – hypothetically speaking – where would you travel?"

I shrugged, "Hey, how should I know? When they list other universes publically, call me."

Anna glanced at me with a smile, "Silly. Another universe can as large as our solar system and as small as a book."

I waved my hand for her to elaborate.

She smiled, easily falling into her 'Lecture Mode', "Take the Harry Potter series for example, J.K Rowling built an entire world through her mind. For all we know, that world is alive and kicking somewhere. Kind of like your time theory 'Because she _thought_ it, it happened'."

A soft 'huh' came out of my mouth. "So...I could go anywhere?"

Anna frowned, "Well, with books, the world must have a history and a time line and people, geography, what not. No one simply _thinks_ and it happens – they're not you," She joked. I grinned; _you don't know how accurate you are..._ "It must have a structure. At least, logically speaking that's how it should go."

"I think you mean theoretically speaking," I corrected.

She gave me a half-hearted glare, "Thanks."

I grinned toothily. Not every day I get to correct Ms. Student of The Year.

We lay in silence for a while, thunder crashing above our heads, blue lightning flashing, and the conservatory ceiling preventing any rain from getting in. I broke the silence.

"Anny?" I voiced, I took her silence as her listening, "Hypothetically...if I had the ability to take us to another world...and I chose Harry Potter, would you come with me?"

She rested her head on my shoulder, "Of course, Caty. I'd follow you to hell and back." I held my tongue as she pronounced it wrong again. There was just no point anymore.

"Nice to know," I smiled softly, and then frowned suddenly, picking up on her words "Who said I was going to hell?"

She laughed, rolling off of me and grabbed her digital camera, going back to her research. I frowned, stuck my nose in the air pompously, and 'hmph'ed.

She rolled her eyes at, "Calm yourself, Malfoy."

I flashed her a grin, but stood, frowned in mock offence and folded my arms, "Alright _Potter_," I spat, "What does the Boy Who Lost have to say about it?"

Sighing, she ignored her research and stood to face me, arm out and pointing her imaginary wand at me. I got into what I thought seemed like a duelling position, but was more of a lunging position.

Anna held back her smile and fake glared at me, "What? No new comebacks, ferret?"

"You're one to talk, Frozen One," I sneered before laughing like those dramatic evil people in plays.

Anna glanced at me warily, "What are you so happy about? Did you finally get rid of your stupid hair gel? I like the hair by the way."

I glanced at the chocolate brown waves of silk that halted a little bit below my shoulder. "What's wrong with my hair?" I exclaimed dramatically.

"Nothing, but your face messes it up!" She said before screaming out some sort of war cry and we tackled each other.

Suddenly we let go of each other and both dissolved into laughter, though we really weren't that funny. It's the kind of humour only we nerds would understand. Maybe not even then.

BOOM! We jumped, both of our heads snapping to the door. It had swung open and slammed into the glass wall, shattering it.

"Uh, Caty...we should go inside, the storm is getting stronger." Anna said worriedly, edging to the back door that connects house and the conservatory.

I frowned. _The storm should be heading off now...GO! LEAVE! _I thought determinedly. It did nothing of the sort. It _disobeyed_ me. But then I remembered this was a real storm so if I touched it, something bad might happen somewhere else.

Hard to explain, but let's just say I can't affect the weather much. Things like right now tend to happen.

"HECATE FELICITY WHITE!" Anna screamed at me over the now roaring wind, "GET YOUR ASS IN HERE! MR AND MRS WHITE! _CATY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?_"

I had been turning to Anna, but then I saw something. A shimmer of purple, clear and distinct, amongst the ever reigning battle of the storm. Without realising I was walking to the centre of my garden, staring at the purple line.

_Help me. _Screamed a voice through the purple line.

My eyes widened in shock. _Did something just speak to me? Was that...? Can't be. _

Tugging on my forearm pulled me from my thoughts and I glanced at Anna, who was glaring at me, eyes a mix between anger and worry.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed over the wind.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT?" I screamed back.

"WHAT?" She yelled in confusion.

_They need you, _the Voice whispered again.

It all happened in a blur. My head burst into pain, I screamed, I barely heard another scream beside me, something tugged on me before forcefully pulling me up to the purple line, everything began blurring, someone screamed my name, I felt a slight pressure on my waist and then all was black.

**-James' POV-**

"Hey mum? Are Sirius and Remus here yet?" I asked impatience evident in my voice.

She huffed, but there was mirth in her eyes, "You asked me that ten minutes ago, and nothing has changed since then."

I shrugged, "Who knows? Ten minutes is a very big time difference. You know in ten minutes Sirius and I pulled a prank that made McGonagall –" I stopped short, glancing quickly at mom who was raising her eyebrow at me.

"I've never heard about that," She paused, voice stern, arms folded and turned to me expectant.

I froze not knowing what to do. Damn it I'm gonna kill Sirius when he gets here – I don't know why but it's his fault. He is usually the one to blame when there is no one else around. A loud thump and a groan from down the hall sounded the arrival of my friend, and I held back a grin. I heard him come up the hallway, but I didn't turn.

"It's all Sirius' fault," I said as solemnly as I could.

"What's all my fault?" A voice asked from behind me.

Another loud thump sounded and was followed by angry muttering. Moony's here.

"Oh you know, how Remus became gay," I replied smoothly, turning to Sirius.

Sirius grinned, grey eyes sparkling, "Well, I am extremely sexy. I can understand dear Moony's troubles."

"HEY!" Another voice shouted from down the hall. "DON'T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I CAN'T DEFEND MYSELF!"

We chuckled. I turned to mum with a grin, "Hey, look – Remy and Siri are here! Told you ten minutes means everything."

She rolled her eyes at me and enveloped Sirius in a hug, "Welcome home Sirius."

I watched with a smile as Sirius paused but returned the hug just as warmly. "It's good to be back, Aunty."

_Still not used to it eh? _I thought sadly, mind wandering to Sirius' horrible mother. Shudder. I met that woman once and do not plan on doing so again. Boy she has one hell of a shriek.

"What's this about me being gay?" A soft voice questioned on my right.

"MOONY!" I tackled my werewolf pal to the floor, and he patted my head, laughing quietly.

"DOG PILE!" Sirius called at the top of his voice whilst jumping, arms and legs spread out wide, and landing on top of me. Remus groaned from beneath me and muttered something about eating too many sweets.

"You're the only dog here Padfoot," Remus grumbled, trying to worm his way out from underneath us both.

Sirius and I grinned like little kids meeting Santa Claus.

"Aw, don't be like that Moony," I pouted. "It's not like I ate your chocolate." He gave me a suspicious look, to which I smiled innocently at.

"Did either of you touch my chocolate?" He growled.

"It's all Sirius' fault," I repeated sadly, shaking my head.

"You offend me, thy friend. Come! Let us fight!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically, jumping up and pulling out his wand. A clear challenge.

Also jumping up dramatically, I pulled my wand out, "I accept thine challenge! But, alas! Thee is no match for Count Jameson Lancelot of Marauder."

We duelled for a few minutes while mum and Remus laughed at us and cheered for Sirius (offended me and sending me into a war cry), but we were soon interrupted by my dad.

"Hey Mr. Potter!" Sirius and Remus greeted.

"Hello Remus, Sirius." He nodded, smiling at them, "Hi to you too James. Yes, my day at work was fine, thanks for asking."

I grinned, chuckling, "Hey dad, you're early."

He paused and stood staring at us in confusion, "What are you all doing?"

We glanced at each other and back at him. Even mum looked confused. "What do you mean?" I asked, eyebrow rising. What's he on about?

He jerked his thumb behind him towards the hallway, "Peter just came. By the sounds of it he landed pretty hard. Why aren't you all greeting him?"

"Peter?" Remus smiled, eyes brightening.

"Wormtail! Where?" Sirius exclaimed, heading down the hall.

I frowned looking to mum, who stared back in confusion. That was weird. Peter said he had to stay home this summer. I had the letter and all to prove it.

"James honey," Mum began.

"Yeah I know...he wasn't supposed to come." I shook my head.

"What are talking about Prongs?" Remus inquired, frowning at me.

"Peter said he wasn't coming this summer, family issues..." I trailed off, a bad feeling forming in my stomach.

"He could be surprising us..." Remus faltered.

"I think not," Dad said, face grim. "Someone just triggered the alarm."

We all froze, not knowing what to do.

"Maybe we shoulde get Sirius..." Remus said quietly, wand drawn, "He's been gone a while."

"It's a long hallway," Mum reasoned, but her own wand was drawn.

"You boys stay here..." Dad started, but he never finished because Sirius cut him off.

"JAMES!"

That's all it took for Remus and I to go running down the hall after Sirius.

**-Hecate's POV-**

I groaned and rolled awkwardly on the hard ground. My body hurt like hell. What the hell happened? I blinked a couple of time, shielding my eyes from the lights before my eyes became used to the brightness. There was a moan beside me, and glancing over I saw a girl with short, cropped, black hair move slowly, before locking eyes with me.

Her eyes were a bright, sky blue and dark blue glasses lay on the floor in front of her. Anna. I lay there, puzzled, wondering why we were lying here in pain - Then I remembered what happened.

I shot upwards, ignoring the pain which shot up my back from the sudden movement, and looked around the area. We seemed to be in a living room – albeit a large living room – and the place seemed very old fashioned. Carpet covered couches, plush well designed pillows, a large red and gold circular carpet/tapestry/thing was on the floor, behind me lay a very large stone fireplace and some pictures on the mantelpiece.

Standing I checked the photos. In one of them were a tall man with black hair and light brown eyes, grinning and a woman with long brunette hair, holding a baby, and smiling softly. In another was just a boy with black hair and round glasses, holding a broom. The last one I looked at had four teenage guys, around fifteen – the tallest one was sort of lanky and he had sandy blonde hair and a tired kind of face, the shortest one was a bit chubby and he had a shy smile, there were two side hugging and grinning madly at the camera – one I recognised as the boy from the other photo except his hair was messier this time, and the other was tall (the second tallest) and...Good looking. He seemed to really work the whole rugged, bad boy thing without looking like he woke early to do it up, or that he never washed.

Very cool, indeed. Well, that is what I would think...you know if the picture weren't _moving_.

"He's cute," A voice beside me mused.

I jumped half a mile, hand over my heart before glaring at my friend, "Jesus, Anny! A little warning please next time..." I hissed, voice low. "And which one?" I asked after a beat.

"Why are you being quiet?" She whispered back, and then indicated at the glasses guy. "That one."

"I'm being quiet because there might be people in this place – who knows where the hell we are?" I said and then frowned, "Why that one? What about the roughish looking one? Is it the glasses? Are you sticking out for your kind?"

She stared at me, gobsmacked (heh that's a funny word), "Who cares? They're all cute!" Fair point. "Now the real problem is – how do we get home?"

I back tracked, "Why are you looking at me? How the hell should I know?"

"You brought us here - You and that purple shimmering light." She exclaimed, before clapping a hand over her mouth in shock.

We waited a few beats before letting out of breath. Phew.

"So you did see it!" I whispered triumphantly.

"Only when I touched you!" Anna fired back, furiously pushing back her glasses.

A flicker of hope went through me and I wondered if she would believe me if I told her about my ability. But before I even opened my mouth I was cut off.

"JAMES!" A deep voice yelled in alarm, not far from us.

Both Anna and I jumped, spinning on the spot to face the guy from the picture. Except he looked a little older, and a little more rugged if that were possible...

He was way better looking in real life.

I soon realised I was staring at a completely stranger, who could possibly be a murderer, like I had met Johnny Depp (I swear to God, if Johnny Depp shows up I will faint). Grabbing Anna's hand, I searched for an escape – and as quick as lightning I found it. A window across the room.

Confident we would get there first, I lunged forward, paying no heat to him. My first mistake when I came across this man.

"Stupefy!"

And suddenly we were flinging back into the carpet covered couches, with a huff. The guy stood threateningly in front of us.

"Stay where you are," He growled. In spite of the situation I noticed his eyes were grey.

Suddenly people piled into the room – first the glasses boy, then the tall one, followed by the man and woman who I assumed were glasses guy's parents. They glanced warily from Anna and I to the rugged one.

"Sirius dear, who are they?" The woman asked eyeing us in confusion, "They don't have any wands. By the looks of it they seem terrified."

Wands? Sirius? Stupefy? Wait...Sirius...as in...Black? My face paled in comprehension. _Oh holy God_.

"Sirius lower your wand," The older man ordered gently, "They aren't Death Eaters – by Merlin, they only look fifteen."

"Sixteen," Anna and I corrected automatically.

The man nodded like this was expected and sat on the opposite couch, indicating for the others to do so as well. The woman sat almost instantly, and the other three were reluctant. The rugged one – Sirius – glared slightly at me (why me, I had no clue – why not Anna? Am I more intimidating?).

"Now," The older man sighed, "Please tell me what you are doing in my house."


	2. The Explanation

**WHOO! Next Chapter! Ah haa, oh yeah! (If you don't have a clue what's going on, I am currently dancing). Do you know what's wonderful?**

**SOMEBODY IS FOLLOWING MY STORY! YEEAAAAAAH! Well. To that person, please enjoy this chapter.**

Anna and I paused, unsure on how to explain it. We turned to each other, giving each other silent looks, understanding what weren't were saying without speaking. So far Anna was arguing with me on whether we tell them the truth or not.

Personally, I was against it. I mean, who the hell would believe we were from a different world? I certainly wouldn't. I was send me straight to St. Mungos – that is, if we _are_ in the Wizarding World. Who knows? Maybe this is all a coincidence.

Maybe.

"So?" Sirius asked impatiently, hand twitching for his wand.

And he was still glaring at me! What did I do to him? Please, somebody tell me!

"So what...?" I folded my arms indignantly, offended.

He narrowed his eyes. The boy with glasses – oh sorry, I mean James – nudged Sirius and when Sirius frowned at him, James frowned back. Sirius stared at him for a while before rolling his eyes and ignoring me.

Wow. They have silent communication too.

"How did you get in my house?" The older man asked gently – I'm guessing he was Mr. Potter, and if that wasn't Mrs. Potter and Remus I'm gonna be murdered by Potter fans from all over for making such a silly mistake.

Then again...I might be murdered anyway because I happen to be in the Wizarding World. Hah. Take that you Potter fans!

"Well..." I began, fully against going to St. Mungos, "I am Hecate White, and this is Anna Beret," I indicated at Anna who didn't know where I was going with this, "We are from this far off land called _America_." I said slowly.

They all gave me blank looks and I sighed.

"You see America is –" My explanation was cut off by the one I assumed was Remus.

"We know where America is," Remus said, giving me a weird look.

_Oh thank God there's an America here. _"Great! Well, Anna and I are from there, and we went to..." _Come mind! Help me out!_ _Show me a school. _I thought hard, opening my ability to see some schools from America. "Salem Witchcraft Academy. Unfortunately, whilst doing a spell Anna and I ended up here." I finished with a sad note, "And we are so sorry."

Proud of myself I sat back smugly, not noticing that Anna had head in her hands and the rest of the people in the room seemed like they didn't believe a word I had said.

"First off," Mrs. Potter began, "Salem Witchcraft Academy is a college."

Halting, I quickly rambled, "Uh, we skipped a few grades."

"Secondly," She continued much to my dismay, "If you are witches, where are your wands?"

Anna and I sat there awkwardly, she focused on the carpet and I scratched the back of my head. Dammit. Why can't I ever get things right? I really do suck at lying.

"Thirdly," She said noticing our reactions, "Salem Witchcraft Academy is not a college and was demolished. I lied before, but you should have at least known that, if you were from Salem. Oh and Salem is in Scotland." She added light.

Anna glared at me and my mouth fell open. Scotland? _Scotland_. Seriously? Oh come on.

"Oh God, I completely fell into that one." I groaned.

Mrs. Potter grinned slightly before composing herself. "Now girls, please tell us the truth or I will be forced to use Veritaserum on you."

"Trust me it won't make a difference," I sighed leaning back.

Anna rolled her eyes at my dramatics and sat straighter, "Well...hi...I'm Anna,"

"Really?" I said sarcastically.

The boys grinned slightly and I grinned back, happy that they weren't so tense anymore. Anna and Mama and Papa Potter gave me a stern look, to which I rolled my eyes at.

"The thing is," She took a deep breath; before beginning in a rush of words. "Both of us are actually from a separate dimension or universe or world or whatever. One day there was a big storm and lightning that I was recording on my camera. Suddenly the storm got worse and for some weird logic Caty," She glared at me and I frowned, "decided it would be cool to walk out into the storm."

I opened my mouth in protest, but Anna quickly moved on.

"Anyway I yelled at her, but it didn't work so I ran out after her, but when I touched her there was this light thingy and then I felt pain and was being dragged up. Then I woke up here with Hecate." She finished with a sigh.

"Did...any of you catch that?" James wondered.

"All I got was a whole bunch of crazy." Sirius said.

"Maybe you should've stuck with the Salem story," Remus said.

I stuck my tongue out at Anna in triumph. But apparently Mr. And Mrs. Potter heard everything. _Everything. _No – I'm sorry, I don't know why I emphasised.

"Another world?" Mr. Potter asked in amazement.

"Charlus?" Mrs. Potter's eyes widened.

James sat forward in shock, "Dad? You don't seriously believe –"

"Of course I do," Mr. Potter retorted, "Do they _look_like they are lying? Dorea, James, the existence of other worlds has been a theory of many wizards for centuries and Albus Dumbledore is one of them. Anyway I'm sure the Veritaserum would give the same result."

As a matter of fact it did much to the shock of everyone but Mr. Potter. Mrs. Potter had gone in to get the Veritaserum along with water after the boys – or should I say Marauders? – began to protest and interrogate us more. The water tasted off, but I think that was the potion's fault, and it was drinkable.

As soon as everything was cleared up, Mr. Potter and Mrs. Potter deemed it important to get Dumbledore. I couldn't believe – I was gonna meet the mastermind behind the downfall of Voldy himself in person! Let's check that off the impossible bucket list. Grin.

As of now, the Marauders (who rightfully introduced themselves after a time) sat across from Anna and I while we waited for the return of Mr. And Mrs. Potter, each of their faces differing from the one before – Remus' face seemed a mix of eager and hesitant though I could tell he really wanted to ask something, James seemed beyond amazed at the fact 'aliens' (this was what he rudely called us) were in his living room, and Sirius had a thoughtful look on his face – yes, he was _still_ staring at moi.

I know – I'm gorgeous, but he doesn't have to stare - No. I'm joking, really.

"What?" I said in exasperation.

"Just something bothering about what you said," He said, leaning forward, propping his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together, resting his head on his clasped hands and eyeing me with those steel grey eyes.

I leaned forward too, "Are you still on about that? Didn't we clear that up? Was it actually pumpkin juice you gave us or did I not drink Veritaserum?"

"That!" Sirius exclaimed. "How do you know so much? You come from a different world, yet you know what we drink here, potions and a school in America, er, Scotland?"

Remus and James caught on quickly and suddenly frowned at Anna and I. Not good.

"That is true," Remus said softly.

James settled for staring at us.

Anna glanced at me in worry, and with a big breath I began yet another of my explanations.

"You see...the stuff that happened in this world is...written down...in ours," I said slowly.

Anna sharply nudged me in the ribs, shooting me a warning look.

"You mean like documentation?" Remus supplied. Sure let's go with that.

Grateful I nodded with a smile. "Yes."

James spoke hesitantly, "You mean..._everything _that happens here is documented...?" I noticed the evident worry in his eyes, which soon filled Remus' and Sirius'. More so Remus than anyone else – but I guess he had reason to worry.

Not that I was gonna suddenly start screaming hysterically about werewolves or anything.

"No," Anna rolled her eyes, startling me. I sort of forgot she had a voice. Whoops. "Only important things – like a history documentation. You know, important wizards or witches – for example Dumbledore – and things they invented, creatures, food, places etc. You hardly expect us to follow everyone's lives, do you?" She left it an unanswered question and continued, "Oh, and we also know all about the Wars."

_Wow, she nicely categorised the important things that would be thought as common knowledge and quickly dismissed any signs of extra knowledge. _I thought in admiration. _Only Anna could do that. But...didn't she mention Wars? As in plural._

Apparently Remus caught on too, his previous relief overshadowed by distraught, "You mean there is another War coming?"

"So we lose," James whispered, pale.

"Well no, cause if you did then there wouldn't be another War would there?" I rolled my eyes, believing this to be perfectly understandable.

Well it was.

Sirius spoke, "If you know about what is going to happen next...can't you help us stop it?"

The question left a gap of silence. A thought came unbidden into my mind, _What if?_

"No." Anna said fiercely, turning to me.

"Why not?" I fired back.

"Because! Hello, Butterfly Effect? We _can't _change time. Who knows what would happen?" She hissed at me, willing for me to understand.

"What could happen?" James spoke up defiantly, "What could be so bad, that you can't help?"

I gestured at him like he just proved my point.

Anna glared at him, "We could be killing people who shouldn't die. Couples could not give birth to children who were necessary to be born. _Countless_ horrible things could happen. We are not helping and that is final. Besides we don't even know how far in the War we are in."

"It's 1976." Remus said.

A bright look passed over my face as I turned to Anna, "Oh Anny please! We could help so much! Think of all the things –"

She cut me off, "Caty, we might have already changed something drastic by being here. No, means no. When Dumbledore arrives, he'll fix everything and send us home. That's final."

Knowing it was, my shoulders slumped and I glanced fretfully at the boys destined to die. I looked away before my heart hurt even more. I don't even know them – yet I know them like the back of my hand. This was nothing like the books. Here were three lives in the palm of my hand and I was turning away – I was leaving them to die.

"Could you tell us one thing?" James asked hesitantly.

Anna glanced up warily, but I stared at the couch, unable to look into his eyes.

"Depends."

"...Who wins?"

There was a slight pause before she replied. When she did, I happened to look at their faces and the sight made my heart pain all over again.

"You."

Then the fireplace roared green and out stepped the Potters and an old man with crescent moon glasses and a very long beard.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Dumbledore, the old daft, seemed to find the fact that these two girls came from another world highly amusing and interesting, shaking their hands vigorously. I honestly couldn't believe it. I don't have a clue what Charlus and Dorea said to him, but he believed they were...'aliens' as James called them to a fault. (Who knows? Maybe they are aliens. By now I shouldn't be surprised).

The older Potters and Dumbledore were soon in deep discussion with the girls, much to the girls discomfort and amusement. They asked countless questions about their world and who they knew so much about ours – which led the pixie hair cut girl (Anna was it?) to say the explanation she gave only moments ago.

Having already heard it, Remus, James and I began to whisper amongst ourselves.

"Why is he so happy?" I asked Remus, hoping my bookish friend held the answer to the mystery of Albus Dumbledore.

"I have three theories." Began Remus and soon he had an attentive audience of two (two being Prongs and myself). "One – His theory has finally been proved." Seemed plausible. "Two – He is in deep shock and later when nobody is watching will have a break down." Prongs and I chuckled at this. "Or three – He is simply bonkers." Remus finished.

We shared a look that said this was the most likely answer.

"What do you think of them?" Remus suddenly blurted, glancing from James (who was on his left) to me (who was on the other side of James).

James and I raised our brows, but began to think none the less.

"Well...since I haven't had much chance to talk to them what with Sirius acting like a Death Eater walked in," James winked at me when I frowned, "or worse – his mother," We all shuddered at this. Mother isn't very popular among this household or the people in it. "But I guess I could say they seem cool. They're aliens for Merlin's sake! What is _not_ cool about them?"

"They aren't aliens James," I sighed.

"'Course they are," He disagreed.

"Do they _look_ any different from us?" I countered.

James faltered much to my triumph, but Remus was quick to step in. He just _had_ to, didn't he? "Actually an alien, by definition, is someone not from our country – so, technically, James is correct."

"And don't we love technicalities," I growled making Remus grin.

James grinned at me victoriously while I glared at Moony, but eventually gave in, hands up in defeat.

"You never said what you thought about them," Remus murmured thoughtfully after a time.

I rolled my eyes, "Well I'm hardly best friends with the two, am I? If you are looking for first impression I guess I would have to say, the glasses girl –"

"Anna." Remus frowned.

"Yeah Padfoot, don't discriminate us glasses people!" James said.

"Anna," I hissed out, "seems like another copy of Lily, but less...Lily."

James' mouth fell, and he exclaimed, "Don't insult my Lilypad!"

I snickered at him. Oh Prongs and his obsession – I was just waiting for Lily to finally accept him so I don't have to listen to him ramble any more – but I had a feeling it would get worse when she did.

The discussion on the other couch stopped for a while to stare at the source of the noise, but when they realised it was just James they continued...discussing. About what I lost track. I caught samples of the conversation over their but I only got something about flying cars.

Hey – that sounds pretty cool. I must tell James and Remus later...

"And the other girl – Hecate," I stumbled out before the two hounded on me, "seems very...suspicious."

"Suspicious?" James and Remus said in unison.

I nodded absently, eyes going to the person herself, "Yeah...Like she's hiding something. Doesn't she seem guarded to you?"

The other two's gazes drifted off to the other couch at my question. A ripple of shock went through me when I saw her staring straight back. But it was only a second before the shock faded and my easy flirtatious smile appeared – I hadn't even realised I was doing it. I guess it was a reflex now.

At the same time, I began to study her unknowingly – half out of caution, half out of curiosity. With a hint of satisfaction I noticed a soft blush creep up her creamy cheeks because of my smile and her eyes widened slightly, giving her a deer in the headlights sort of look.

Her eyes. I found myself staring at them. They were green – not like Lily's though, Lily had grass green eyes, very noticeable. It's what caught James' attention in the first place. No, _her_ eyes were darker, much darker. Like moss. Not noticeable, but..._alluring_ in a way – you would have to look at them for a while simply to see the colour, but I guess that was an advantage for the girl. And she was pretty too – even more so when she awkwardly fiddled with her dark mahogany hair under my gaze.

But she confused me – to the point of distrust. I'm used to reading people, knowing what posture meant, reading emotion so I could anticipate anything (with my mother being who she was it was a necessity) and it helped when I flirted with the flavour of the week. It also helped with my friends - I could tell what James was thinking by looking at him (though he's an exception – we are basically twins), I know when Moony is uncomfortable by a twitch in his leg (why is leg? I have no bloody clue. I just know) and I can see Peter's doubt when we do a prank, though he hides behind a laugh. I can even see Lily's hatred for James waver (though rare) for Christ's sake.

But _she_ was all over the place. Her blush indicated she was embarrassed, though her slight frown determinedly showed she was annoyed (that was the easy part – it's obvious she had conflicting emotions), yet unlike her nervous friend her posture gave off a relaxed air, despite ending up in a completely different world (who cares if she knows some things about it?).

But...relaxed didn't feel right. Confident, maybe? Yes she seemed perfectly self-assured. Why? Who would be self-assured in another world in the house of a bunch of strangers who can use magic? If I couldn't use magic, I surely wouldn't. _Then again, _I relented; _maybe they can use magic...Wandless? Seems odd for their age..._

And then there were her eyes. Eyes full of secrets. Guarded and fierce, I'm sure I would've flinched if I hadn't been so preoccupied with their colour and depth.

_Why is that?_ Questioned a smaller part of me, but I shoved it away. Now is not the time for this.

Then out of the blue she spits out with a smirk, "See something you like?"

Whatever conversation had been going on stopped abruptly and all attention was directed at the centre of her gaze. Me. Do you see what I mean? What is with this girl and her sudden mood swings? First she was shy and embarrassed and guarded and now she's feisty?

"Padfoot?" James groaned, "Really? Already? Can't you leave the aliens alone?"

I spluttered at him, "I didn't do anything!"

Remus said sighing dramatically, "We should've have forseen this, James."

"Yes Remus, I am ashamed," James sighed dramatically also.

Dumbledore rumbled a chuckle, "Well I see teenage pheromones are acting up, maybe I should get going."

Teenage pheromones? Who says that? I hit James and Remus as they dissolved into silent giggles. Yes they giggle – we all giggle. It's normal for Marauders.

Dorea and Charlus stood. "What do we do about this Albus?" Charlus asked, indicating the 'this' at Anna and Hecate, who both seemed slightly offended.

Dumbledore paused, suddenly very serious and just like that all laughter and joking was aside.

"Now listen to me, all of you," He said earnestly. "No one must know Hecate and Anna are from another world. It is a very disastrous knowledge – especially," He stared meaningfully at the two girls, "when they know about the Wars." I thought he sounded a bit sad there. "We may have to come up with an alibi for them. Can they stay here Mrs. Potter?" Dorea nodded like she wouldn't have it any other way – if you can nod like that. "Now, I need to set this straight with the teachers. And you need money...Would being Muggle-born be alright? We needn't change your names then." He asked them politely.

The entire room was in shock.

"I-I'm sorry?" Anna stammered. "Why would we be muggle-born? Couldn't we just stay at the house? I mean, it won't be long till we get home."

My thoughts were along the same line.

"Dear girl," Dumbledore said in surprise now back to a jolly attitude, "How long do you think it will take to bring you back? Weeks? Days? No, my dear, I'm sorry to say it may take months – maybe years. And if I have my way, I would rather you two having an education while you're here."

Hecate raised her hand to stop his speech, "But – hold on. We don't – we aren't – we can't possibly go to _Hogwarts_ if that's what you're thinking."

"Why not?" He asked.

"We aren't witches!" She practically yelled in frustration.

Well I don't blame her – people usually feel slightly frustrated around Dumbledore.

"Yes Albus I hardly think sending muggles to a magic school would work," Dorea began.

"But they are not muggles," Was all Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling with a secret knowledge, "Muggles can't transport through time and space – that aside, I can _feel_ it. Can't you? That power."

I noticed Hecate freeze for a bit. It seemed I was the only one who noticed – she was very subtle about it.

"B-but," Anna spoke, voice hoarse, "What about wands? Books? Clothes? Um, I don't know, knowledge of spells? How can we pretend to know stuff that we don't know? Sure I know _names _of spells – but _performing_ is another matter."

"Forget that," Hecate shook her head, "Are we transferring? What's our story?"

"Very true," Dumbledore said, "Hmm...you two sound American, am I correct?" They nodded, "You could be foreign exchange students from Aberwraith Academy in Massachusetts. It was built after Rellanard was demolished so it is new. That could explain some of the mishaps of knowledge on your part. We've decided Muggle-born – you both live with the Potters at the request of me, because I believe James," He smiled at James, "is a brilliant prefect to show you around London and Hogwarts. Keep your names and your lives from your other world – now about equipment." He muttered.

"We'll pay for it." Dorea spoke up, her motherly instinct coming out, "As long as they stay here, they are our guests."

Dumbledore tried to dissuade her but Charlus interrupted.

"No Dumbledore. If this is all we can do for these girls, we'll do it." He said firmly.

Anna and Hecate blushed furiously and, something I couldn't register in time before it disappeared flickered over Hecate's face. Well if she's staying here at least then I could figure her out...Anna seems to be able to do so without much effort maybe I'll ask her...

"Now, maybe if I could rely on you three boys to help them with spells and classes," Dumbledore looked towards us with sparkling eyes.

"O-of course sir," Remus blurted on behalf of the us. "No problem."

No problem indeed. _One thing's for sure, _I thought, _at least I'll have time to figure her out. _

-**Anna's POV-**

Years? He said years. How long do I have to wait before I can go home? Will Josh be ten by the time I'm back? Will there be search warrant going around – if dad hasn't done it already.

Beside me Hecate was a bundle of excitement. Well, of course she would be – she doesn't have a family to worry about. _Not that I'm jealous_, I though sadly, gazing at my best friend. _This is probably like a dream come true to her. _

"Oh-my-God Anny!" She squealed while hoping up and down on my bed. We were currently in the room I was assigned by Mrs. Potter, who had led both Caty (**A/N just so you know, she always pronounces it CAT-EE.**) and I to our rooms after Dumbledore left.

Caty's room was across the staircase (the stairs was huge – it was marble and there were two that led to the same place. And by Caty being across the staircase, I mean there was a banister (wooden) that formed a square around the top of the staircase – I was on one side, with the top of the stairs facing me and Caty was opposite me). Just so you know we were on the top floor – thank God there only being two.

"Anna we are in _Potter World_," She whispered the last part, "Isn't it just fantastic? And we're witches to boot."

I frowned at that, "I don't think I am."

"But Dumbledore said –"

"I know what he said but...I think I _caught_ it, you know?" Her face said she didn't know, "Listen, you saw that purple thing in the sky, so you had magic."

"You saw it too!"

"_Only _after I touched you." I said meaningfully.

She spoke slowly, "So you're saying I gave you magic?"

I nodded.

She shrugged. "Well, does it matter? You're still a witch and we are still getting wands." She grinned, "In _Diagon Alley_! Oh that rage of those Potter fans."

I frowned at her, pushing up my glasses which were slipping, "Caty, we _have_ to be careful. Remember what Dumbledore said before we left? _You cannot interfere_. So we can't do anything."

She sobered, "But...but how can we not? They are right there. All three of 'em. They are going to..." She didn't finish, her face stricken.

It pained me to see her like this. It pained me to not react to what I could save. But it was necessary. _Necessary, _I thought bitterly, _like how Harry was meant to die. Now I realise how Dumbledore felt...or will feel. _

"Hecate...we have _lives_ to get back to," I said firmly, but at the look on her face I corrected myself, "I have a life to get back to. I have a family."

I wish I had just shut up, right then and there, because the horrified look on her face was not worth it. But just as I was about to apologise she spoke

"Yes, you do," She said thickly, "And I am so _sorry_ for dragging you into this."

"What?"

"It's _my _fault." She said, tears threatening. "Now we could be stuck here _forever_ and you can never see your family again."

I grabbed her shoulders, "How is this your fault?"

"I caused the storm." She said in a pained voice.

"Caty you're not making sense."

She froze and looked at me, "Anna. For a long time I've known this. It's the reason the lightning struck so close to us. It's the reason weird things happen around me. Magic isn't even _half _of it."

I frowned, "What the hell are you on about?"

"Anna..." She said, "Believe me when I tell you this – I have the ability to make and unmake and control and excel in things...because I _thought _it."

"That mind thing again?" I sighed.

Maybe this magic stuff is getting to her head?

"Anna it is real." She said firmly. "I'll prove it."

I raised an eyebrow, giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"Look at your hair." She said lightly.

"Why?" I frowned, serious. My hair was not something to mess about.

"Because...it's pink."


	3. Sausages and Lots of Running

**Hey my new followers of this story, I hope you enjoy the chappy you are about to read :D**

**Also, I wanna know what Houses you think Anna and Hecate are going to get into (yes, they are going to attend Hogwarts...I think I mentioned that in the earlier chapter...) – they may not be in an obvious House. Maybe.**

**Tell me in a comment or something? OK. **

**(-/-)**

**-Hecate's POV-**

I sighed in disappointment, scooping another sausage into my mouth and chewing it like there wasn't really a point to why I was eating. Across the table all three Marauders stared at me, wondering either why I was so melancholy, or that I finally came to my sense about being in another world.

Trust me. It wasn't the latter. I am still very excited to be in the Wizarding World. Especially since we were visiting Diagon Alley today. I am getting a _wand_! Thank God I seem to be a witch! (Thanks God ol' pal).

"Is she still in her room?" Voiced Remus, finally breaking the silence and gazing worriedly at me.

I hadn't realised he'd noticed the reason I was upset.

"Yeah." I sighed, eating yet another sausage.

"You might want to stop..." Sirius said frowning, "I'm not sure your stomach can handle all that food."

I gave him a half-hearted glare, "Don't talk to me like I'm some anorexic chick. You'd be surprised by how much my stomach can take."

He seemed doubtful, but he never said anything. He just stared. Like he always did. Because for some reason I'm _so _fascinating. I scowled at Sirius.

"What're you talking about Moony?" James spoke up hastily, changing subject.

"Are you serious? Can you not see what's bothering her?" He gestured at me, shooting me a half-apologetic look. I wasn't offended.

"No Moony," James said slowly, "I'm James." Sirius chuckled while Remus and I rolled our eyes, having heard this joke a hundred times over. Well, at least I did. I'm sure Remus heard it more.

Oh that poor boy.

"So are you going to tell us what's bothering her or what?" James said.

"Uh, I'm right here," I gestured weakly.

I was ignored.

"Obviously she is upset that Anna isn't talking to her." Remus scowled before shovelling some eggs into his mouth – I'm not sure how he can chew without choking.

"Yeah, what did you do to her anyway?" Sirius asked, leaning forward.

I sighed in exasperation, "I didn't _do _anything – well, I mean, I _did_ accidently turn her hair pink. I know she cares a lot about her hair, but I changed it back!"

That was three days ago. Anna still hasn't forgiven me. Of course, I did convince her that I had special abilities (which she grudgingly agreed about while screaming at me), but she shrieked so loud that the older Potter's came running so fast I would've been sure Voldemort was in the house. I quickly had to explain I accidently turned her hair pink with "magic".

Luckily they bought it, and I changed it back before the Marauders entered the room. OK...so when I changed it back I accidently made it curly...but what's so bad about that? _What's so bad about that? _I thought bitterly, _you know Anna loves her hair...especially since she got a pixie cut. _

When you have curls, you can't have a pixie cut – unless you wanna have a tiny perm.

"Changed it back," Someone growled from behind me. "_Look _at me."

"Anna!" I exclaimed delightfully turning and immediately halting.

It was different. _She_ looked different. Yeah, same sparkling blue eyes and sheet white skin, dimples and black hair – but her curly black hair did so much more for her small face than her spiky hair did. The curls were longer now (a bit above the shoulder) and I was sure she had someone magically make it grow; they fell gently around her pretty face giving a more soft face than a tough one.

I thought it was cute. And by the looks of the rest of the people in the room – they did too.

Misunderstanding our shock Anna glared at me before spinning on her heel, "That's it I shaving these damn things."

I lunged at her, snatching her wrist and yanking her back into the dining room, "No no no no! Your hair is perfectly fine! Leave it alone." I managed to get her on a seat.

"But it looks _horrible_," She moaned, reluctantly taking a plate.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics and quickly took up the role of responsibility. It wasn't often I get to be the sane one and I revelled in it. "It looks gorgeous. Right boys?" I turned on them.

"Y-yeah! Wonderful!" James managed out hastily, glancing swiftly at me.

Sirius smirked, his eyes regarding Anna slowly, "You look beautiful, love." Always the charmer, isn't he?

Remus' ears turned red and he mumbled out something along the lines of 'really really pretty' which in turn made Anna blush slightly. Something I was sure only Sirius and I picked up.

"See?" I said brightly, eating another sausage, much to the disgust of Sirius and James.

"I'll never eat sausages again." James vowed, making Remus' roll his eyes at him.

"You probably threatened them," Anna muttered half-heartedly.

Sirius snorted, "She couldn't if she tried."

Oho, is he challenging moi? "Don't be so surprised Black. I'm _very_ intimidating when I want to be."

He leaned forward slightly with a smirk, "I doubt it White. I don't find a little kitten such as you all that scary."

So he's using play on words now? Well two can play at that game.

"Hm." Challenge accepted. I gave him a good long stare which I knew made him uncomfortable, and kept a small knowing smile on my face, "We'll see about that Snuffles."

The boys looked at me perplexed before promptly bursting into laughter.

"You hear what she called you Pads?" James snickered, "Snuffles! AHAHA!"

Remus' wiped a tear out of his eyes and Sirius grinned madly.

Playing an innocent role, Anna and I looked to each other in confusion. "What's so funny?" Anna asked, putting on a confused face.

"Nothing," The Marauders grinned.

James sobered a little though, "But why the dog name?"

For the first time ever I replied smoothly, "He called me a cat, so can't I call him a dog?" It seemed plausible.

The three relaxed visibly and ignored our (being Anna and I) raised brows. Rolling my eyes I ate another sausage.

"JUST STOP WITH THE SAUSAGES!" James and Sirius exclaimed at me.

**(-/-)**

Diagon Alley was magnificent. Similar to the movie set but at the same time very original and...English – if that makes any sense. Even Anna lightened up at the mere sight of it. It was bustling with kids and adults, the kids mostly near the Quidditch shops or the bookstore, and the adults hovering almost everywhere.

It was Mrs. Potter who brought Anna and me to Diagon Alley, smiling softly at our gasps. Accompanying us (saying that we needed extra protection because we were too muggle to handle the ways of magic folk) were my new favourite pranksters.

"Now here you are," Mrs. Potter smiled (or Dorea as she insisted I called her), handing me a small pouch of galleons. "Go off to Ollivanders and get yourselves wands. I'll meet up with you lot at Madam Malkins after I get your books."

Anna and I began protesting about making her do everything but all she did was give us a big motherly smile and hand us over to James and Sirius who promptly dragged us away. Well, Anna being dragged and I being thrown over Sirius' shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Of course _they_ found that hilarious. (Hey, on the upside, at least Sirius won't be staring at me like I'm a puzzle).

"I'm pretty sure my legs are fine," I growled, struggling in his vice like grip.

"I'm pretty sure I look gorgeous," He replied.

Remus smiled fondly at us, shaking his head. "Sirius, put the poor girl down."

It was only moments ago I was calling him the poor boy, oh how the tables have turned.

With a dramatic sigh, Sirius placed back on my feet, gave me a mock worried look and said, "Are you pretty sure?"

I hit his arm playfully. I get it – you might be confused. Sirius and mine's relationship lightened up after the first day and I think I'm slowly being introduced to how he usually acts. But he still stares. All the time. I swear to God I might rip his eyes out just so I can have some peace of mind.

"A little help here?" Anna squeaked.

I glanced her way and began to chuckle at the sight. Clearly James had gotten tired of dragging poor Anna and shifted her into a bridal lift – causing Anna to flush like a tomato at all the stares she was getting. James winked our way before continuing his walk to Ollivanders.

Randomly, he paused and grinned at us like a child with candy, "Bet you I'm going to get there first!" And with that he sprinted like a madman.

"JAMES POTTER PUT ME DOWN!" We heard Anna exclaim in the distance.

I laughed at them. Suddenly I was swept out from under, squeaking a little in surprise, and my face became introduced to the familiar face of one Sirius Black.

"Black what are you doing?" I frowned, glancing down at the ground in disappointment.

_And we were just getting reacquainted._ I thought with a mental sigh.

"We can't have James win that race now can we?" He grinned before chasing after James, leaving Remus behind in the dust. "Well come on Moony!"

Scrambling, Remus chased after us, ignoring the oncoming stares. And quicker than the so called 'race' started, Ollivanders was in front of us. It was small and shabby looking, the wood it was made of dark and chapped, and the doors and windows seemed oddly crooked for the shops – yet it looked right. A few wands were at the window on display and I noticed an old man inside, but couldn't get a good look at him.

Sirius gently placed me back on the ground and Remus came to a stop beside us, seeming just a little out of breath. He must've really been running. I noticed that James stood outside the door doing some sort of victory dance (I didn't ask) and Anna stood next to him holding onto the door handle like a life support.

"I won, I won!" He sang, jumping up and down.

Sirius grinned, "You only won because you had a head start. Next time it won't be so easy."

James' eyes glinted at the challenge, "Oh yeah, Snuffles? Just try me!"

Remus laughed at the use of Snuffles, Sirius rolled his eyes, I chuckled under my breath and Anna frowned in annoyance at James.

"No. You are _not_ carrying me again." Anna said sternly.

James looked at her as though she said Santa wasn't real, "But –but! Anna we're champions!"

She raised a black brow, spun on her heel and entered the shop leaving poor James staring hopelessly after her.

"Partners can't ditch each other!" He exclaimed.

"I think she just did," Remus grinned.

James sighed, eyed Remus up and opens his mouth but Remus quickly shot him down with a "No way in hell, Prongs".

We all entered the shop after Anna laughing at James who was grumbling to himself about how friends should stick together. On entering my eyes were met with shelves and shelves of small rectangle boxes, falling over each other and overflowing the shelves so much that some boxes lay on the ground. A few books were scattered across the floor and at the centre of the small shop was a beautifully crafted desk with an old man on one side of it, waiting expectantly for us.

Ollivander stared patiently at both Anna and I, and to be honest it unnerved me. His black like eyes bored into mine as if knowing something I didn't. In the back of my mind I registered that he reminded me of Dumbledore.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Black, Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin," He said, gaze falling to the smiling boys behind me, "I remember giving you your wands." He focused on Sirius briefly, "Dogwood, fifteen inches, dragon heartstring and quite rigid. Good for charms as I remember."

"Still is," Sirius grinned cheekily.

"Dogwood?" I grinned at him in amusement.

He shrugged but I saw a flicker of unease in his eyes. "What's so amusing?"

"It's just your name is the dog star," Anna smoothly covered up for me.

He accepted this answer, not finding it surprising that Anna answered for me (I think he caught on to our mind reading thing) and I noticed James and Remus relax slightly. It's kind of fun pulling their legs.

Ollivander carried on without so much as a glance at the conversation, his eyes steadily focused on James who shifted a bit under his gaze, "Mahogany, eleven inches, dragon heartstring, slightly bendy, good for transfiguration."

James nodded shortly, but Ollivander had already turned his gaze to a slightly nervous, but smiling politely, Remus.

"Mr. Lupin, you were chosen by a Poplar wand of twelve inches, bendy and unicorn hair. I remember that choosing _very_ well. I hope you're treating your wand well?"

Remus blushed slightly at the attention and nodded quickly.

"Now, am I correct to assume these to young ladies have come here for their first wands? For I have never seen them in my shop, let alone Diagon Alley," Ollivander said.

"You are correct." Anna answered stepping forward confidently, not one to shy away easily. "And we're exchange students from America. The boys are showing us around while we stay at the Potter Manor."

Smooth as always that one. Lord knows that I would've stuttered at the forced half-lie.

"And you are…?" Ollivander asked politely when Anna moved to the front of his desk.

She smiled, "Anna Beret, sir. Nice to meet you."

He muttered something and motioned to hold out her arms as a magical floating tape came out and began measuring Anna's height, leg length, arm length – everywhere (and I mean _everywhere_. Anna looked a bit flustered when it measured her bust, and although Ollivander seemed to no interest in anything but finding her wand, I had to cover Sirius' and Remus' eyes because they were getting a little _too_ interested in the measurements if you catch my drift).

I eventually removed my hand with a small smirk at the boys (I wasn't worried about James because he was too in love with Lily to think of anyone but – at least I hope because I only had two hands to spare), Remus was blushing furiously at being caught in the act while Sirius just grinned at me and gave me a look which made me feel as though he couldn't wait for my measurements.

Unconsciously I folded my arms over my chest. Sirius winked at me playfully.

"Now let's see if we have the wand for you Miss Beret," Ollivander started, jogging down one of his many isles of shelves in his quest for a wand.

Anna fidgeted slightly and I could tell she was getting more and more stressed the longer it took Ollivander to find a wand. Despite being a very controlled, calm and practical person Anna was very open with her emotions – she says a clear mind cannot have heavy baggage weighing it down. She wasn't good at masking her emotions - that was my forte.

It's weird actually. We're very opposite. I'm outgoing and extremely honest and…well very Marauder – while Anna is very quiet and would rather research than go out to play soccer or whatever (though she can be hilarious).

I guess it was our childhood circumstances. Though you can't really put our personalities into categories, we have too many layers for that. For example, Anna can be very fun and sly when she wants to. I wouldn't be surprised if she got herself mixed up with the Marauders of all people.

I hope I didn't jinx anything.

"Now, Ebony, eleven inches, supple, dragon heartstring, brilliant at charms," Ollivander handed the black wooded wand to Anna who took it cautiously, "Well give it a wave."

Surprised, Anna waved the wand awkwardly and something somewhere shattered, causing us all to flinch. "Sorry, sorry!" Anna said in a rush.

He waved her off, fixing the broken mirror with a simple wave, "Nonsense, happens all the time. Hmm…Maybe…" He hobbled off down another isle.

While he was gone Anna turned to me frantic. "What if there is no wand for me? What if it's all a mistake or something?"

"I'm sure it's no mistake." I said.

"Dumbledore even said it," Remus added as though this solved everything.

I guess it kind of did.

Anna didn't think so, because she scowled, "Oh, I'm supposed to take one man's word for it? Dumbledore is still human! We all make mistakes."

With a thoughtful look I turned to Remus the brains of the bunch. "Hey, are you all still human? I mean, normally humans don't have magic."

"No muggles don't have magic," Remus amended slightly offended, "Of course we're still human. We all have the same body parts, don't we?"

"Well." James and Sirius began their aim to contradict Remus.

"Oh you know what I mean!" Remus snapped.

They grinned at him in amusement.

"Do we?" James asked.

"I'm not sure we do," Sirius continued.

"You said we all have the same body parts," James said with a mocking frown of confusion.

"Now, Prongs, I'm pretty sure the male and female anatomy is different," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Indeed it is, Padfoot." James gasped, with mock shock.

Remus groaned, "You guys…"

"But if dear Moony needs some proof," Sirius sighed, hand reaching to his trousers.

"I guess we'll have to prove it," James finished, reaching for his belt buckle.

"STOP!" Anna and I exclaimed in unison while Remus looked defeated. I wouldn't have put it past them to actually do it.

They stopped (fortunately) and laughed at our faces. I stuck my tongue out at them and Anna simply looked away, embarrassed.

"Here we are!" Ollivander exclaimed in delight, making his way back to Anna, not noticing our conversation at all. I wonder if weird people walk in here all the time… "Alder, ten inches, unicorn hair, hard. I am certain with this."

Anna's hand reached out to grasp the beautiful light wood, her face a mask of awe. She seemed almost hesitant, as though not wanting the chance of rejection from this lovely wand. And it was indeed lovely – a nice size, the light wood spiralled in a way, from the bottom of the place where you hold it, to about halfway before the spiralling stopped and it became smooth wood again. It looked very elegant.

Even more hesitant now, Anna waved the wand lightly and from its tip came a cascading of gold sparks, like fireworks. I gazed in awe and happiness at my friend's accomplishment and the boys also seemed rather inspired by the beautiful display of magic.

"There now the next one," Ollivander said abruptly, breaking the reverie we were all in.

Anna hastily moved back over to Remus who smiled at her lightly and I walked to Ollivander, building up the courage that I didn't know I needed.

"Now who are you?" He asked, his eyes boring into mine and yet again I had the feeling he knew something.

"Hecate White." I told him determinedly.

He smiled in amusement, "Hecate the witch Goddess? Curious, very curious. Hold out your arms, please, Miss White."

Doing as told I spread my arms and waited patiently for it to be over, ignoring the fact that I had two pairs of eyes on me and although I couldn't tell which two, I was almost certain one was Sirius. _Git_. My eyes widened slightly in horror. _Oh no! I'm going British!_ The horror of it.

"Please wait a little while I find your wand." He hobbled off yet again and I waited a little less patiently.

I'm not a very patient person. I heaved a sigh, earning a few looks from the onlookers behind me and I heard Anna whisper a hurried explanation of my impatience.

"Here we are!" Ollivander tottered back, whipping out at wand. "Cedar, eleven and three quarter inches, surprisingly supple and dragon heartdstring. Very good with duels."

The wand was pretty and it felt comfortable in my hands, but I placed it back into his palm, ignorant of the raised eyebrows directed at me from others in the room. I felt a mutual agreement from the wand and figured we both knew it was wrong.

"Not the one," I said with a sigh.

Ollivander eyed me carefully, but continued his quest. Again he came back and again the wand and I shook our heads (well the wand didn't, but you get what I'm saying). I went through Chestnut, Red Oak, English Oak, Aspen (Ollivander had claimed he was certain and while it felt a bit nicer, the wand still didn't like me).

When Ollivander had gone back into the shelves, his face now a little frustrated, I felt a sudden tug at my mind. _Finally_, something whispered. Again something tugged, but this time at my body and I felt myself moving to one of the shelves.

"What are you doing?" Sirius exclaimed, but his voice went through my ear like the wind.

There. My hand stretched out to the red velvet box that my eyes were locked on, and a pulse of excitement ran through me as I picked it up and turned around with it in my hands. I came face to face with a patient looking Ollivander. I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't need another wand, but noticed his hands were empty and he was simply waiting.

Waiting for me to open the box.

"Come now Miss White, we haven't got all day. I daresay that wand has been waiting too long for you to pause now," He mused.

With a sharp glance at my friends, I saw they were in shocked silence, all but Anna. She seemed more than a little smug and had an expectant grin on her face. A motion from her snapped me out of my reverie and I quickly opened the box.

The wand was a chocolate colour and simple looking – nothing crafted into it at all, it was as though Ollivander had just ripped it right off the bark and shaped it into something you could hold. Picking it up, I felt another rush of excitement and something…_right_. Even though there was many bumps and wedges in the wand it was unbelievably easy to hold and comfortable too. With a flourish of my hand, I felt the wand sigh in anticipation and it let loose a gust of glittering wind that swirled around me before ceasing.

"Maple, twelve and a quarter inches, pheonix feather, and surprisingly swishy. Excellent in duels." Ollivander told me with a smile and quickly walked back to his desk. "Those wands will cost…nothing."

We all stood there shocked.

"W-we have to pay you something!" Anna stammered.

Ollivander gave her a wistful look, "Nonsense. I haven't seen such a display of magic in years and that wand," He gestured at my wand. Oh to be able to say that – _my_wand. "hasn't seen the light of day in sixty, it deserves to be let out. Your wand hasn't been out since twenty years ago when I crafted it. No…no payment is in order. Now shoo."

We quickly began to scramble out of the shop when Anna stopped and turned back. "Do you have any books on wands? I'd really like to know more about them. I'll pay if you want!"

The Marauders and I paused, and without another thought I was behind Anna asking for a book on wands too. Ollivander eyed us in amusement before pulling out a large book with the title 'Wand Woods and Their Connections with Their Cores' and he handed it to us with the simple request of two galleons, which we all but threw at him.

"Now off you two," He smiled and leaned forward to whisper, "I hope you enjoy your stay however long that may be."

Anna and I paled slightly before nodding and leaving the shop in a hurry.

**-Anna's POV-**

I sighed in contentment, clutching the book to my chest, the mere smell of it bringing me at ease. Out of all the promises of this world, this _book_ was the most exciting thing to happen yet. I knew I could sympathise with Caty and Remus, but James and Sirius seemed confused by my beaming face.

"What was that all about?" James asked, eyeing me and then Caty.

"What?" Caty replied confused.

"That – that whole 'no that isn't the right one' or 'nope not that either' and then you go and _choose_ one? Do you have an affinity or something?" James exclaimed.

Caty gave him a weird look, "All I did was listen to her."

"Who's her?" Remus questioned in confusion.

Boys can be so silly sometimes. Caty _obviously_ meant her wand. Duh.

"Her wand idiot," I scoffed with an eye roll.

"How do you know your wand is a girl?" Sirius asked, as his eyebrow rose.

Caty shrugged, "She feels like a girl. Besides, didn't you all feel your wand talk to you too?"

"It's talking to you?" Remus half-shouted, eyes wide.

"That is what she said, genius." Really, how thick can these guys get? I felt my wand pull at me a little too. Just because Caty could talk to hers doesn't mean it's weird.

OK, so maybe it does, but everything is weird with Caty. After finding out that she could basically create another world if she put her mind to it, talking to wands is _way_ low down on the crazy list.

"So you guys never felt your wand…in your head?" Caty frowned.

They all shook their heads with disbelieving looks.

"I don't think anyone has," James muttered.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure they have, you probably haven't heard about it. Just because _Caty_ has an affinity for it doesn't mean you guys can't do it either."

Sirius glanced at me with wide eyes, "Can you talk to it too?"

I felt my wand bristle and quickly chastised Sirius, "I can't _talk_ but when I put my mind to it I can feel my wand. And don't call him it. He doesn't like it."

Caty turned to me casually, ignoring the shocked faces of the guys. "You think she has a name?"

I shrugged, "Most likely. Unless you give her one."

Caty nodded thoughtfully.

"Oh, come on! Names?" Sirius sighed, throwing his hands up in the air.

I raised an eyebrow, "Everything has a name. People name guns and sword and weaponry. A wand is more than a weapon so doesn't it deserve a name?"

He tried to protest, but Caty quickly overrode him.

"I'm sure that if you _asked_ your wand, then he or she would tell you."

With a huff, Caty and I linked arms and left the boys behind, heading for Madam Malkins where we saw Mrs. Potter waving at us. I diverted my attention to my wand. _Who are you? _I thought in wonder.

_Your partner,_ came the whisper, startling me.

"You OK?" Caty asked me worriedly.

I nodded weakly, sort of disturbed yet mystified. I had thought only Hecate would hear her wand. "Yeah, let's hurry over to Mrs. Potter."

"Dorea," She corrected with a grin.

I shook my head laughing, before entering the stuffy clothes shop. Sigh. I … guess I can forgive her for turning my hair pink and then curly. I can do a lot with curly hair – especially after Mrs. Po – no, Dorea, used an extension spell on it.

**-Hecate's POV-**

Madam Malkins was a nice shop, I had to agree. I wasn't one for clothes shops (I'm more of a tomboy type) but I liked this one. For one, the Marauders hadn't shown up after the Ollivanders incident so it was just us girls, and two, Anna and Dorea weren't overly girly types so I actually had fun.

After we got our uniforms and our winter uniforms (I was forced to wear a skirt no matter how much I begged), Dorea decided we needed a new wardrobe. Neither Anna nor I disagreed because we actually did need clothes and we knew it was pointless – there was no stopping Dorea when she has her mind on something.

We spent longer than I would've spent in any shop (three hours), and that was only because I kept going to the leather jackets, jeans, boots and chequered shirts despite the protests of Dorea and Anna. Dorea, although not overly girly, still wanted me to buy more feminine clothing so in the end I bought some dresses, and only because I felt I owed Dorea. But she could not make me buy a skirt. Not. Ever.

At the moment I had replaced my thin jacket with my new black leather jacket which I adored. I think I'm in love. Anna sighed, rolling her eyes at my wide grin, only causing my grin to widen more.

"Don't worry, I'll lend it to you," I assured her.

"What makes you thinks I want it?" Anna's brow was up again.

"Please who _wouldn't_ want it?"

"I wouldn't." Dorea and Anna replied.

My mouth fell open in shock, "That right there is blasphemy!"

Dorea laughed softly at me, and her softness was something I was beginning to notice. It still shocked me that she was in Slytherin (something I found out on our shopping spree), though really I haven't _actually_ met any Slytherins to judge – besides, Dorea reminds me a little of my mom.

OK, not a little. A lot. It was so overwhelming I could choke. Good thing I'm so good at concealing how I feel, isn't it?

"New jacket I see?" A deep familiar asked from beside me.

Jumping half a mile, I turned to a chuckling Sirius, "Oh, you noticed?" I said trying to act casual about it. I spun for him, bubbling with excitement.

"She already wants to marry the thing," Dorea sighed, eyeing me in amusement.

"I wonder if that's legal." Anna tapped her chin, thoughtful.

I froze, completely serious, "Don't joke with me Beret."

Dorea, Anna and Sirius laughed at me.

"Where are the other boys?" Dorea smiled adoringly at Sirius who seemed to not notice it.

Psh. He's just trying to act cool.

"Well, Remus exclaimed something about chocolate and dragged James off," Sirius smiled at the memory, "I escaped."

Dorea chuckled, "Lucky you, Sirius. Now I have collected everything," You wouldn't realise that she had ten bags worth of things because she charmed one bag with an extension charm and then a weight charm so it wasn't heavy. If you don't understand, go watch the seventh Harry Potter movie – keep an eye on Hermione. "and you have your wands." She nodded at Anna and me.

We raised them as proof. Sirius seemed a little disconcerted, but he quickly snapped back into his charmer mode. Leaving him unnoticed by all but moi. Again. This is becoming our thing. What a weird thing. I'm guessing James and mine's thing would be pranking or a brotherly/sisterly relationship, and Remus and mine's thing would be talking or sitting reading a book.

Imagine someone asking what was the deal between me and Sirius and I reply "Oh, you know, we just stare at each other. It's our thing." Nothing stalkerish there. Or what if, by some cruel twist of fate, they think we _like_ each other?

I feel faint.

"You OK Caty?" Anna asked me worry clear in her voice. "You seem pale."

I gave her a couple of blinks and then a smile, "Perfect."

She frowned at my lie, but let it go with a look that said 'later'. I nodded and turned back to Dorea.

"What now?" I breathed out in a long sigh.

Dorea had seen the little interaction between Anna and I, but said nothing about it, she simply looked toward Sirius and said, "I think owls are in order. Sirius, would you…?"

He bowed his head slightly, grinning, "Of course. Ladies?" He held out his arms.

Slowly Anna and I looked to each other eyebrows raised, smirked and took our places beside him, our arms slipping into the crook of his elbow.

"Where to Sir Black?" I asked in a silly posh London accent, fluttering my lashes at him.

"Well, if the beautiful Ladies shall accompany to get your owls…" He trailed off waiting for the answer, glancing between me and Anna with a grin.

We hesitated for a dramatic effect before speaking.

"Well…if there is _no one_ else," Anna sighed in despair.

"I say we must." I finished looking away like I was afraid to look at him.

"Then off we are!" Sirius exclaimed quickly delving into long strides.

Fortunately, Anna was able to match him, unfortunately I was not. I struggled to keep from tripping because he gripped my arm tightly so I was forced to keep at his pace. I grinned, an idea coming to mind.

"Black I regret it!" I exclaimed dramatically, earning some stares.

He and Anna halted, staring at me quizzically. He looked at Anna hoping for some explanation but she just shrugged, just as oblivious as him.

"Regret what?" He asked slowly, though there was amusement glistening in his grey eyes.

"I regret my feet touching this horrid ground!" I glared at the ground like it had wronged me somehow. I held out my arms expectantly. "Give me a piggyback."

Anna snorted at me, hiding a giggle and onlookers chuckled at my childishness. What? When did I say I was mature? I don't recall doing so.

Sirius, not one to back down from anything, kneeled in front me, arms out behind him. I walked to him with a grin, but stopped short.

"No running, OK?" I said hesistantly.

He rolled his eyes but nodded. With a fast decision I decided he deemed trustworthy and clambered onto his back. I felt alright until he stood, not fully realising how tall he was until now. In a moment of panic I pulled myself closer to him.

"Scared?" He chuckled, grey eyes curious.

I let out a shaky breath, "Oh not really, I just forgot I had little bit of acrophobia, but really I'm just…_perfect_." I hissed out, eyeing the height I was from the ground.

"You're afraid of heights?" For some reason the jerk found this amusing.

I frowned, finding things getting a little personal, "Maybe." _That's all you're getting from me._

He was still grinning but I saw something flicker in his eyes…was that…frustration? Why is he frustrated? What did I do? Getting pissy when I don't tell him personal stuff? Well _sorry_ Mr. Human Lock and Vault.

"You know," Holy crap Anna scared me. I keep forgetting she's there! "My legs are getting awfully tired."

We both looked to her, wondering what she was getting at. Anna looked directly at Sirius with a mischievous look in her eye. I have a _really_ bad feeling about this.

"I think I need to stretch them."

Paling I exclaimed. "Don't you _dare_ Sirius Black."

With a wild chuckled he and Anna launched into a full on sprint, with me screaming at them and clutching onto Sirius for dear life.

I really should've known.

**(-/-)**

**OK I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I FEEL AS THOUGH IT ISN'T THAT GOOD…TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK? PLEASE? **

**Ooh? Could you tell me (at least guess) which character is going to end up with who (because trust me **_**it happens**_**).**

**Please rate! Wait…can you rate? Aw screw ratings! Just COMMENT!**


	4. Questionable Comedy

**Hey, I'm glad people are enjoying my stories :DD I really hope you guys like this chappy. I'm not exactly planning three days before I type – more like, hmm, idea, type. Yeah... So if it's a little rough or doesn't makes sense, tell me and I'll edit this chappy to hell.**

**Uh...That's all. Yup. ENJOY!**

**-Hecate's POV-**

A month has passed since Diagon Alley and in it each day has been a routine of living hell. It usually started with a drousy yawn, breakfast, then Remus for lessons that used books (and unfortunately homework), then it continued to Transfiguration with James and Charms with Sirius (he was a tough teacher) and near the end I was wiped out, hoping for a sleep in but only to look forward to three hours of Potion lessons in the morning (Anna and I found Potions to be one of the easiest of the lot, much to the horror of the Marauders – you see we were in Honours Chemistry, it is much harder). Every weekend strictly used (well in my case) for sleeping or finishing Remus' unreasonable amount of homework. By the end of the month the Marauders had told us we were at fourth year level.

Isn't that wonderful? One more stinking year to go before we pass as beginners in sixth year. Great.

Anna and I lay on our backs on the floor of my room, trying desperately to relax. It wasn't taking off at a good start, considering the conversation Anna began with.

"Do you think we could actually change things?" Anna whispered.

I looked to her in shock but her eyes were glued to the ceiling. Talking about this was strictly off limits – I wasn't allowed to say anything to anyone, including Anna. For her to talk about it...something was wrong. I sat up and cast a quick Silencio at the door, something I had found that the Marauders were very good at.

Sneaky little bastards...

"What's with the sudden change of heart?" I asked.

She propped herself onto her elbows, "I'm not saying that we will. But, if there was a _slight_ possibility that it all wouldn't blow up in our faces or time wouldn't explode...could we do it?"

I stared at her with firm eyes, "I think we could do it. I mean, there's a huge chance we could die in the process but...with what we know..." With an angry growl I stood, walked to the blue shaded wall and leaned against it.

Anna pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, sad blue eyes staring at me. "I know you want to save them. I don't want them to die either after getting to know them. But, Caty, it's not _our_ choice."

"Why not? Why did you bring it up if you're going to shoot me down again?" I said angrily, "We weren't just _brought_ here for no reason. The thing...the Voice..."

Anna started, "Voice? What voice?"

"Oh you know that Voice...From the purple light..." I sighed in impatience.

Anna stood, eyes searing me, "Hecate I never heard any voice. I saw the light yeah, but there wasn't any voice."

I looked at her in confusion. "What? You didn't?" She shook her head slowly.

"What did it say?"

My mind trailed back to the impossibly blurry event of the storm, which was weird considering it wasn't blurry until now. My mind acted slowly in recovering the lost data, like it was trying to run through water. Then I remembered. The Voice. The whisper that was as loud as a scream in my mind. And completely impossible.

_Help me._

"Help me," I whispered.

_They need you._

"They need you." My eyes sought Anna's.

We stood there silent, hearts pounding. I spoke first.

"Anna," I began, blood pounding in my ears. "What if – what if we're _supposed_ to be here?"

She started to shake her head, but I pushed on.

"Come on Anna. _Think_ with that amazing mind of yours. I lose control of a storm _I_ created – that never happens, well OK sometimes, but not to that extent. A purple light appears and someone is asking us to help them, then we end in right in the Potter Manor?" I said in disbelief, "That could not be a coincidence."

"_You_ were the one that saw –" Anna began this time unsure but I pushed ahead still.

"Oh come on Anny," I said in exasperation, "If someone could take control of _my_ storm, rip open a hole in the dimensions without collapsing everything around us _and_ place us exactly where we need to be in the exact year we need to start I think they would be able to leave behind a small girl. You are necessary too."

Anna raised her eyebrow, "What makes you so sure it was a person?"

I faltered, "It...I recognised the Voice."

Black brows shot up, "Really? Who was it? A wizard?"

I back tracked, blinking, "Wait – what? You _believe_ me?"

She shrugged a smile playing on her lips, "Caty, you showed me your impossible ability. I'd believe anything you say now. Plus your story is the best explanation we've got...Unless _you_ took us here...?" She skewered me with a glare.

I shook my head frantically, "No no _no_! For me to manipulate something like that I'd have to know how it works, I don't even know what it looks like."

She laughed lightly, easing the tension in the room almost immediately. "I know. I figured out how your ability – or should I say _abilities_ – work. So...Where do we begin first?"

"Huh?" What in God's middle name is she talking about now?

She sighed, eyes rising to the Heavens, "Jesus Caty, first you tell me we have to fix things here and now you're saying you don't even have a plan? Christ that Voice thing was right to take me along."

Awestruck I ran up and hugged her, overwhelmed with gratefulness. How did I ever find such an amazing friend? "Ohmigod, did I ever tell you how awesome you are?"

"Well, you did mention it once or twice," I heard her murmur wryly, hugging me back tightly. "Not _nearly_ enough to sate a growing girl's ego, but...I guess it'll do."

I chuckled. "Maybe I'll step it up a bit."

I heard amusement in her voice, "Sounds like a plan. And speaking of plans...what is ours?"

I let her go and sat on my bed, tapping my chin thoughtfully, "Yes...a plan."

With a roll of her pretty blues she sat herself on the edge of my bed beside me, one leg curled up to her chest, the other hanging loosely off the edge of the bed. "Maybe we should start easy...like befriending people."

Catching on I grinned at her, "We'll become close with the Marauders! Maybe we can steer Pettigrew clear of the bad guy side, for God's sake he is a Gryffindor, there has to be _some_ courage in him."

"No issue there," Anna smirked slyly, "He follows the others nearly everywhere, and since they follow _us_ nearly everywhere..."

"We already have the cat in the bag; all we need to do is tie the knot." I finished, slapping my fist to my palm. "My, my Beret. You would make a Slytherin proud."

She shrugged like it was nothing, but there was a glint in her eyes, "And _that_ might not be a bad idea."

"What?" What did I say? I hate it when she gets ideas from what I say. And I love it – they're usually pretty cool ideas.

"If I get into Slytherin, I'll have an even bigger chance of getting on the right side of people like Snape, Sirius' brother, maybe even Malfoy." She said excitedly.

I frowned at her, "For someone who was _so _against disrupting time you seem to be enjoying yourself Beret."

She gave me a look, "Hey, can't a girl change her mind?"

"Also," I added, biting my lip, "I don't really like Malfoy. Well, at least I didn't in the books or the movies. He was a real prick – _loved_ his family, but a real prick. And, I don't think getting into Slytherin would be very good for you." I mentioned meaningfully.

Anna nodded disdainfully, "Yes, me being muggle-born wouldn't help. They'd probably gut me in the first week."

I patted her shoulder comfortingly. Well, that was one idea out the window. For the rest of the night Anna and I put our heads together, and if anyone could hear through the Silencio'd door, all they would hear was a bunch of mumbling, a little argumentation, some chuckles and the obvious note of a grim air near the end of our conversation before we fell asleep.

**(-/-)**

**-Anna's POV-**

I pointed my wand at the door and whispered, "Finite Incantatum," And with a pulse of excitement and a small blue flash, the door was no longer sound proof. Unfortunately, my wand still hasn't told me His name. I know that Hecate found out her wand's name, but couldn't tell me because it was private. My wand didn't talk to me anymore after that day in Diagon Alley, but it did give me a feeling of...I can't really explain it – I just knew I had to wait.

For what? No clue. But He insisted that waiting was right. The book Ollivander gave me was also very useful – not only did it have a detailed explanation for wand wood personalities and how they blend well with certain cores, there was information on how to harvest the wood properly, how to make wands and most importantly – wand names.

I had the sneaking suspicion that the book Ollivander gave Hecate and I was worth a lot more than two galleons.

"You done?"

"Shh!" I hissed at Caty.

"...Now?"

"Shut up, Hecate!" I hissed at her getting a bit irritated with her impatience.

She raised her palms up in surprise and backed off. I rolled my eyes and leaned my ear into the door. I smirked when I heard the clear distinct voices of James, Remus and Sirius.

"Done," I smirked at Caty, who grinned at me with her thumbs up.

I motioned for her to move closer and soon we were face to face, both trying to listen in on whatever the Marauders were talking about – of course we knew what they we talking about (pranks obviously) but the details were lost on us. We really had one thing in mind – to get involved.

My light blues locked with dark greens, and with a sharp nod I whispered, "Mission Infiltration Marauder, initiate."

Green eyes sparkled at me in anticipation.

She cleared her throat and gave me a light shove, "Anna _move_, I can't hear."

Frowning I shoved back, "You wouldn't be able to hear at all if _I _hadn't used the reverse spell."

Caty rolled her eyes at, "Well sor_ry_. Now did you hear that about the random singing prank?"

I nodded with a frown, holding in a laugh, "Yeah...who the hell is Snivellus?"

Caty made an 'I don't know' noise and sighed, "You'd think since they called themselves the Marauders they would have better pranks."

"Hey...you think their nicknames mean anything?" I asked, faking an inquisitive voice.

Caty laughed, "Yeah I wonder where they came up with that? I mean, come on _Moony_, what does he do? Go moon some innocent first years?"

I snorted and began giggling at the thought of it. Oh my God. I can't believe no one thought of it that before! "Or Prongs! What is he the devil in disguise?"

Caty couldn't contain the hilarity of James being a devil, "Oh can you imagine him trying to be evil? No one would take him seriously! If James is the devil then Voldemort is an angel."

"Now," I controlled my giggling, "How would we work out Padfoot?"

Hecate's eyes sparkled, "Well unless he has something about his feet he finds amusing..."

My face screwed up into a disgusted look and I let my voice carry the revulsion, "Eeew! Who would be proud of bunions?"

By now I had noted there was a sound of indignation in the room we were nosing in on. I winked at Hecate to let her know and she waggled her eyebrows, telling me she had more to say.

"Maybe he's trying to show off." Caty shrugged. "You know what they say about men with big feet..."

I put a pout into my voice, "Yes, but his are awfully small."

Right about then the door was wrenched open and Caty and I fell into the room, face planting the floor. We looked up to see three frowning faces and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh...hey..." I began, keeping my voice sheepish.

I hoped Caty wouldn't blow our cover.

"We were just..." She trailed off, looking sheepish also. I think she did feel a little bad about listening in so I'm glad it was working to our advantage.

Sirius' eyes were shining with rage as was James and Remus'. Caty and I held in our giggles and hastily stood up.

"Did you guys happen to hear that...?" I asked hesitantly, glancing from each of them to the floor.

Caty stayed silent like I instructed her to. Good girl.

The guys' angry faces were enough answer, but they all decided to answer any way.

"I can so be intimidating!"

"I do _not_ moon first years."

"Who the hell said I had bunions?"

Caty and I glanced at each other and then promptly burst out laughing, almost falling to our knees, holding on to each other for support.

"So – so what you're saying is..." Caty gasped out, smiling at Sirius, "You do have small feet?"

He flushed angrily and took a dangerous step towards her, but James leapt up and held him back. He dragged him to the one of the couches in the Marauders secret little room and sat Sirius down, muttering to him. Eventually Sirius calmed and both Caty and I stopped laughing.

"Did you guys...hear anything in here?" Remus asked nervously.

Caty and I shared a look. "Where do you suppose he got _that_ idea Caty?"

She sighed in consideration, "Hmm, no clue really. I mean I didn't hear anything about a silly little prank on some Snape dude..."

I shrugged and looked at the boys with a sympathetic expression, "Sorry boys,"

Faster than humanely possible, Remus was blocking the door along with Sirius and James had grabbed our wrists. Surprised I raised my eyebrow.

"What do you mean silly little prank?" James asked childishly, pouting at us.

Caty chuckled at him. I rolled my eyes.

"James that is not important here," Remus snapped and turned to me, eyes full of worry and exhaustion. Far more than usual. "How long...were you guys listening?"

_Oh. _I realised. _They must have been talking about...Oh. I forgot the full moon was five days away._

I softened, ignoring everyone else who was coming to terms of what Remus was talking about. He stood there like concrete, solid and unmoving, but in that moment of tension I saw him fragile. As though one word from me would shatter him completely. I felt the strong urge to hold him, to keep him from shattering – and although I am a caring person, this was different.

His sea foam eyes found mine and there was like an explosion of some sort throughout my entire body. Suddenly I was deafened; all sound from anyone or anything went right through my ears and the centre of my focus became him. I was well aware of the thousands of tingling sensations that ran down my skin, the racketing of my heart and yet, it was a dim awareness. A subconscious understanding of what was going on. And my eyes burned from the length of time they had been depraved of blinking.

But I couldn't blink - Both from conscious choice and an inability. My whole being _knew_ if I blinked it was all over. This moment. This fearless, pure moment of him and I with nothing else in the world to stop it. But the subconscious awareness became a conscious awareness and I tore my gaze from his, knowing only seconds had gone by.

"We heard whatever you guys were saying about halfway through. You guys had one hell of a silencing spell," I smiled feeling strained at the forced smile. It wasn't a lie. But that was worse.

When I lied, faking expressions was easy. When I told the truth there was no one who couldn't read my expressions. I feared what I showed at this moment.

_Oh no, _My thoughts panged, _excess baggage. _

Remus smiled in relief, relaxing and a thrill went through me that _I _was responsible for him relaxing. For his smile. _Oh I've got it _bad_, _I thought in horror.

I was dimly aware of the light-hearted argument Sirius, James and Caty were having about the singing prank being lame. My legs felt weirdly heavy and my head incredibly light.

_What the hell is wrong with me? Get a grip Anna! One guy smiles at you and suddenly you're like those silly girls in romance movies? _

**One cute guy, **A smaller part of me corrected and I felt myself growl mentally at that part.

I am Anna Samantha Beret. Top of my class, second to _none_. I do not turn to jelly at a cute guy's smile. _Especially_ one who is destined to end up with a girl a good deal younger than him and have a kid.

For some reason my reasoning angered me. Fortunately I was snapped out of my reverie by a loud challenge from James.

**-Hecate's POV-**

"So you're saying you could do _better_?" James jabbed his finger at me.

I put my hands on my hips and held my head high, "_Anyone_ could do better than that sissy prank."

The three Marauders glanced at me, sat on the couch and folded their arms.

"Go ahead," Sirius motioned for me to continue.

"Well." I began; relishing the moment three Marauders had actually stopped and _listened_. "First off – Snape singing muggle songs when he says...er, mudblood, is..._OK_ but amateur at best."

Anna continued my train of thought before any of the boys could begin their protesting. I glanced at her a little in worry. She looked a bit pale.

"One, instead of just _one_ person, why not many?"

"That's the point," Sirius rolled his eyes, "We are targeting him."

"Two," Anna continued a hint of steel in her voice, "That my friend is not pranking, it is bullying. I do _not_ stand for bullying. Three, if you _do_ want to prank him for saying mudblood," She managed distastefully, "why not make him cough up mud or something?"

"Or," I grinned, "make everything he touches become dirty."

The guys stared at us.

"That's...that's just evil," James managed, staring at us warily.

Remus frowned at us, "That is more revenge than comedy."

"And that is why," I said, "we will not use this prank on just one person – because that would be bullying. _Anyone_ who says the M word is targeted by the spell."

Anna nodded grimly, "It's a horrible word no one should use."

Sirius' eyes were wide, "You created a spell for it?"

We grinned in unison. By the looks on their faces, I think we scared them.

"Uh...thanks but leave the pranking to us," James eventually said, getting up and guiding us to the door.

"But wait!" I cried.

"We have so much more ideas!" Anna gasped.

The door was slammed in our faces. With a sigh Anna and I headed back to the one place we knew the guys would never enter unless it was life or death. The kitchen. Lucky for us the Dorea or Charlus weren't home today so we could talk about pretty much anything.

I frowned, sitting on the stool. "Well that was a bust."

"Or exactly as planned," Anna murmured, seating herself beside me.

"I'm pretty sure the plan was to get them to _not_ feel like they couldn't trust us."

Anna looked at me, "Yes, we pushed a little too hard, but this is just a minor setback. Actually, we can use this to get the attention away from us at school."

"I am still not following." And boy that was something. Usually I understand Anna's train of thought.

Her eyes were bright, "What if we become pranksters too? But instead of it being random pranks, we'll prank people who have done something bad. Like...saying the M word, perhaps?"

I smirked, "And if we do that, all the Slytherins would be more worried about what is going to happen to them next, rather than notice the two new girls getting suspiciously close with some soon-to-be Death Eaters."

"And," Anna finished, "we could also get some information along the way, don't know how we will but I'm sure we'd figure it out. And we could make everyone think it was all the Marauders doing before shocking everyone after a time by announcing it was someone else."

"But," I grinned, "The Marauders aka James, Sirius, Remus and Peter will know it's not them and start to get suspicious and their attention would be immediately drawn to us."

"Making them both impressed and wary." Anna sighed happily. "Giving us the perfect opportunity to bond."

"Don't you just love our conversations?" I smiled like we had been talking about the weather or some other mundane thing.

We giggled together, but Anna suddenly frowned. "That _is_ a lot of planning for someone who is going to stop Voldemort."

I frowned too, "Yeah...we might need a few extra people in the loop. Hey!" I gasped, an idea coming to mind, "We could be like Nathan Ford's team in Leverage!"

Anna smiled slightly, liking the idea. "OK, but if it's like that then we need a name, more team members and positions."

I rolled my eyes, "You are obviously the con artist. I am..."

Anna stopped me, "No. This isn't muggle world Caty and we aren't stealing from powerful rich people. This is the Wizarding World and we are punishing, embarrassing and extracting information from powerful rich teens. We need to think in a witch kind of way."

"So, then. The con artist would be the one who leads people into traps to leak information or set off a spell. The hitter might be there to interrupt if things get messy. The hacker would be the one who creates the spell or figures out how to do the actual prank. I'm guessing we'll all be masterminds. Do we need a thief? What would a thief even do?" I wondered.

Anna's eyes glinted, "Steal. Yes we need a thief. Because a thief might be useful for some pranks involving a potion or to find secret passage ways. You'd be good at that."

"Nice to know you think I'm good at stealing things," I muttered.

Anan sighed, "I _meant_ that the thief needs to be quiet, stealthy, and quick. When it comes to it and we are doing something that endangers our lives – you know like a horcrux or whatever – a thief would be very _very_ useful."

I grinned at her in appreciation, "And you Anny are still the con artist. Also, our group needs a name. And we need code names."

Anna nodded, thinking, "Well, we could be called the Order of Hood, like after Robin Hood – the great thief who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. And we could name ourselves after our animagi, like the Marauders did."

I held my hands up for her to stop, "OK, love the name, but why are you adding more pressure? Animagi? Really? Don't we have enough homework? Would our new members – whom we still need by the way – even, be up to it?"

Anna sighed in defeat but plundered on, "Couldn't you just, I don't know, give yourself an ability to see people's animagi forms?"

My eyes lit up. "Anna! That is brilliant!" I quickly shut my eyes and thought about having the ability to see a person's animagi form and when I used the ability my eyes would glow gold. Then I looked at her.

And it was a different kind of looking. I felt my eyes sting a bit and watched in fascination as Anna began to change before my eyes. Except she didn't change really – I only saw it in my head. Her form shifted and shifted before she stopped.

And right in front of me sat a flaming coloured fox with human like eyes.

I blinked and it was gone, and there sat Anna staring at me in shock. I grinned at her.

"Your eyes turned gold," She said hoarsely.

"Yes they did." I grinned, "And you my dear friend are a fox."

She glowed, "Really? So...I guess my name is Grifter then?"

I laughed with humour, "So you were born to do the con artist job. Should've known. Now get me a mirror. I want to see my own shape."

**(-/-)**

The boys avoided us pretty much the rest of the day. It was funny too. Sometimes, when Anna had gone to the Potter library to read that wand book, I hid behind walls of corners to scare the Marauders. And I was pretty darn good at it.

"Merlin woman would you ever stop!" Exclaimed James, my favourite victim.

I pretended to think about it, "Nope."

He huffed and sat on the ground. Bemused I followed his suit, seating myself in front of him and folding my legs Indian style. We sat for a while in silence.

"So where is your other half?" James asked, trying to make conversation.

I blinked, and then caught on, "Oh, you mean Grifter? She's in the library."

He stared at me in confusion, "Grifter?"

I grinned, "Nickname. She calls me Prowler." I felt very smug about my animagus form.

A leopard. Isn't that just awesome? Weird too. I chose Prowler because it sounded cool, but Prowler also means thief. And leopards are said to be stealthy. _And_ Grifter means trickster – or con artist – while foxes are said to be sly.

Don't you find it incredibly odd how it turned out?

James shook his head in wonder, "So are you looking forward to Hogwarts?"

I smiled at him, "Yes I am. Especially since a certain prefect is supposed to be showing me about."

He grinned at me, hazel eyes sparkling, "I will be the _best_ escort you ever had. I will instruct you poor, lost American in the ways of the English."

"Oh the horror of the day I talk like an English person," I said in mock contempt.

James' hand shot to his chest and he looked offended. I knew better. "Oh! That hurt Caty," Ugh. He said it the way Anna says it. Hold on...Anna calls me Caty, my animagus form is a leopard and my nickname is Prowler aka thief aka cat burglar? Weird. As. Hell. "I thought you were getting to like me."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Who would ever like _you_?" James chuckled at me, and I continued, "Speaking of liking people...Who do you like James?"

He suddenly became anxious, "Oh...Hecate – you don't – I mean – you..."

Realising what he was getting at my face screwed up in disgust, "Ew! God no! I think of you like a brother James! Other than that is just..._wrong_."

James nodded in relief, "Good, good. Wait! What's wrong with me?"

My eyes widened, "No! I didn't mean it like that! It's weird that's all. Like if you were to kiss Sirius."

James' face scrunched up and I nodded in understanding.

"So is there anyone you like at Hogwarts?" I asked again.

The look on his face was like magic – his eyes became dazed with a mix of wonder and awe. A goofy smile came onto his face. "Yeah...Lily. Lily Evans."

Smiling gently at him, I curled my legs to my chest and watched him, "Tell me about her."

And he did. He told me about his first year, noticing her eyes. Then his second year when he tried to flirt with her but she kept turning him down – and he talked about her wit and beauty and kindness so much I was beginning to learn new words as I listened. I could tell he liked talking about her and he appreciated me listening. I don't know how long we talked, hours maybe. I knew the conversation at one point changed from Lily to butterbeer but I don't know how.

That was where Remus and Sirius found us. James and I lying on the ground, my head resting on his shoulder, his face in my hair, both of us snoring softly. I remember being woken up by gentle hands and someone whispering quietly to me when they noticed me waking up, but before I could recognise their face I was drifting back into a dreamless sleep, coaxed by the safety of the arms around me and the gentle murmuring of the gentle voice.

**(-/-)**

**OK OK! I hope you like this chappy. Things may seem like they are starting suddenly but trust me it was this, or three chapters of this separated and a lot of writers block. I think I did pretty good.**

**The Remus/Anna scene is the first of many and I was inspired by Taylor Swift's song Sparks Fly, which I had been listening to while writing. **

**Honestly, the whole Grifter and Prowler thing meaning what their jobs meant and at the same time matching with their forms was coincidental. I was surprised too. Trust me.**

**I am currently on a bit of writers block because I have no clue on whether I should go straight to Hogwarts or have a filler for the next chapter to build the relationship. I'll surprise you guys. Thanks for reading!**


	5. The Definition Of Moony

**-Hecate's POV-**

I slid into the room quietly, carefully easing myself across the wooden floorboards, holding my breath when one of them creaked. After a beat I decided I was good to go. I eased myself another few steps closer to the large bed and checking it just to make sure.

_Yup_, I thought, _he's there_. Part of the tussled black hair poked out of the maroon and gold sheets and the covers rose in a large clump, indicating the rest of James' body. Quickly glancing at the other two beds in the room, I relaxed when I saw the similar clumps unmoving. I took a deep breath, walked back towards the door before running at James' bed and jumping, eagle spread, into the air.

"GERONIMO!" I bellowed before I landed roughly on James.

He was dead to the world. On the upside, my loudness woke a disgruntled Remus.

"Hecate would you _please_ quit doing that?" He moaned, running a hand through his sandy hair.

"Never." I grinned evilly.

"Where's Anna?" He asked, glancing around the room in suspicion. Last time she accompanied me to wake the guys up she got impatient and used an Augamenti on them.

Good times, good times.

"Library," I answered; resting my head on what I guessed was James' shoulder. "She decided to play nice and let me give you my entire wrath."

"How thoughtful," Remus muttered, swinging his legs out of the bed.

"Aren't I?" Came the wry, Texan reply from the doorway.

With a reaction quicker than if someone had told him they ate his chocolate, Remus' head snapped up to see her. I sat up and waved at Grifter, but was rudely ignored. She had eyes only for Remus. It was slightly annoying being ignored by my best friend but I couldn't do anything about it. They didn't even realise what they were doing – those silly children who think they're not allowed to like the person they are attracted to (Remus and Anna have understandable reasons, stupid ones, but understandable).

By now even James – with his head full of Lily and Quidditch – could tell something was up. (I'm not saying he knew exactly what but he could sense it – ah, poor simple minded Jamie). Of course with Anna being my bestie and Sirius being the master of love affairs, we knew what was going on.

We were just waiting for the ice to break.

"Um, Caty? Could you get off?" A voice asked hoarsely from beneath me.

I ignored it. Remus' and Anna's spell was broken though and both of them embarrassed, turned to the noise. Stupid James.

"Caty!" James grumbled, trying to shove me off.

"Jamie!" I imitated him, keeping my balance.

"Ugh! Why do you always feel the need to wake us up?" He muttered, putting his glasses on and sitting up.

Him sitting up caused me to fall back with a yelp of surprise and I ended up lying down with my head on his lap. We grinned at each other for no apparent reason.

"I don't know about you, but I like it when she wakes us up," Someone said with a smirk in their voice and I turned my head to see a messy haired Sirius stretching.

"Shows how much we mean to her." He winked at me.

I tried desperately not to blush at the sight before me and felt proud when I didn't.

"Put on a shirt Sirius." God dammit _why_ does he have abs? Stop looking! Stop it!

He caught my stare and smirked, "You sure that's what you want?"

A large hand covered my eyes and I giggled at James' outraged voice, "Sirius Orion Black! I swear to Merlin that if you try and flirt with Hecate again in front of me you will pay for it!"

Ah. James and his brotherly protection. He steps in now and then when he feels Sirius was getting too..._serious_. See what I did there? Eh? Eh? No? Sorry. The Sirius jokes are getting to me.

"So you're saying it's OK if I flirt with Hecate behind your back?"

I heard Anna snort, Remus chuckle and James make a weird sound that was mixed between shock and anger.

"Joking Prongs." Sirius chuckled.

I tore James' hand off my face and sat up, accidently hitting James' chin with my forehead in the process. We both winced and glared at the laughing audience.

"Come on Caty!" Anna said brightly, "And you guys better get up quickly. You have to de-gnome the back garden. And the front garden."

The boys all groaned simultaneously. I gave them a sympathetic look. Their job was a tough one, considering the gardens were _humongous_. It took me one and a half hours straight imply walking through the back garden. They were very pretty though. The back garden had a large pathway that could fit a car going down the middle and rose bushes lined the edges of the path. At one point the path parted to form a circle around a very large oak tree, which Anna and I discovered had the best shade for reading on a hot day. After the tree the path ended and the garden became forest like, filled with apple trees and cherry trees, intertwining in such a way that the mere task of getting through it was an adventure. The front garden had maple trees lining the edges of the driveway and the rest of it was just grass. Simple and pretty.

I love the Potter gardens.

"And you might not wanna put on a shirt," Anna added with a hidden smirk, "It's _very_ hot outside."

"I can tell you're not lying," James said thoughtfully, "But why do I feel like you're looking forward to this?"

"Give the girl a break, Prongs," Sirius said, "Who _wouldn't_ want to see us naked?"

"Half-naked," I corrected with a frown of suspicion.

"Don't be shy White," Sirius grinned at me, eyes glistening with flirtation.

James frowned at his friend who was like his brother for hitting on his new unofficially adopted sister and seemed like he wanted to say something. Remus watched the unfolding scene in amusement. I patted James' head, smiling at him and then smirking at Sirius.

"Oh, I'm not shy." I replied, and then leaned over the edge of the bed to look at his feet. "Oh...they really _are_ small."

James and Remus laughed loudly at their friend's fuming demeanour but I couldn't relish the moment because Anna began to drag me out of the room.

"If you guys don't get dressed quickly, I'll have Caty help Dorea make breakfast." Anna called to them, continuing her way to our bedrooms without pause.

The last thing I heard was a bunch of curses, a loud crash and scrambling of feet.

"I'm not _that_ bad a cook."

"Sweetie, Scourgify couldn't take that stain out."

"I wish everyone would just let that go. It was an accident!"

"Ah huh."

**(-/-)**

**-Remus' POV- **

The oak tree was glistening, its dozen shades of autumn as the sun soaked through the gaps in the leaves and red, gold and brown reflected on my skin likes a small disco ball had been turned on and shined directly at me. The wind picked up and changed direction, this time blowing my way. My nostrils flared softly and the scent of tulips and apples filled my senses, driving my nerves insane.

An animalistic urge to follow the scent rocketed through me, but I repressed it. It wouldn't do if I scared Anna now, her unknowing of why I was acting this way – not after building our friendship. Hecate and Anna had become surprisingly close with the James, Sirius and I. Almost an extension of our Marauder bond – almost, that is.

Their sense of humour is slightly disturbing. At least, I wouldn't want to cross them.

"Ach, shit!" Sirius swore, sucking his finger.

"Gnome?" I guessed in amusement.

"What else?" He growled, kicking the annoying pest a few feet.

"BLACK YOU BETTER GET THAT GNOME OUT OF MY GARDEN, YOU HEAR? COUSIN OR NOT, I DO _NOT_ WANT YOU KEEPING THEM AROUND FOR YOUR OWN AMUSEMENT." Dorea yelled, noticing what Sirius had done to the gnome.

I laughed at Sirius who quickly yelled back, "SORRY AUNT DOREA!" And he quickly rushed off to throw the gnome out of the garden.

My gaze flickered to the other Marauder (the lucky one) who had finished de-gnoming the front garden, which was much smaller than the garden Sirius and I were currently de-gnoming. The lucky git had a scissors.

Damn my uncoordinated hands!

James at the moment was trying to persuade Hecate into the ways of Quidditch. She seemed to be putting up a good argument and it didn't help James' case when Anna joined in soon enough. Of course, when anyone refuses to accept Quidditch it didn't matter if you were the best lawyer in the Wizarding World – James' logic was sound.

At least to him.

"Aren't they the funniest sight?" Sirius voice said from beside me.

My eyes automatically went to Anna, starting at her lovely curls of ebony silk, moving to her sky copied eyes (which I could see due to my heightened senses) and then taking in her light blue dress that showed off her legs. My chest tightened. "What do you mean?" I growled, turning to a surprised Sirius and then blinked, shocked at my tone.

"Whoa...I didn't mean anything by it Moony," Sirius eased, and then his gaze went to the source of my frustration.

I tensed waiting for his reaction.

"Will you get it over with already and kiss the damn girl?"

_Huh?_ _What?_

"I-I-I'm sorry?" I stammered in confusion.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "You think I wouldn't notice? Really? Me?"

A slow blush crept up my cheeks and my mouth flapped open and shut in shock.

"Moony, you might want to close your mouth." Sirius smirked in amusement. "It's unappealing when you want to impress a girl."

Automatically my mouth snapped shut, and I tried to ignore Sirius' chuckles by speaking. "How did you...? I mean...I'm a werewolf Padfoot." I mumbled at the end.

Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously, "So what? Peter, James and I are fine with it. We've been with those girls almost two months now and I can guarantee they wouldn't give a crap if you were actually a transvestite."

I flushed and snapped out dryly, "Transvestite? Really?"

He shrugged, grinning, "Hey, it could happen."

"And that isn't worse than a werewolf."

"No, but it's harder to swallow when it's dumped on you."

"...How do you -? Where do you get these examples?"

"We live in _London_ Moony. It's not the most sheltered city."

My brows furrowed and I gave him a strange look, but it quickly evaporated. "But what if there's someone _better_...?"

With a sad yet confident look, he gripped my shoulder firmly. "Remus, there is _no one_ better then you. Do you understand me?"

Man I have good friends. "Yeah, Pads. I understand you."

"ARE YOU DE-GNOMING THE PLACE OR WHAT?"

"SORRY CHARLUS!" We exclaimed back hurriedly.

**(-/-)**

De-gnoming the garden was a tough job, and after I felt that I deserved a good rest and headed to the Potter library. The place was incredibly big, it almost matched Hogwarts library – the key word being almost. As of now I was reading about werewolves. Again.

I just couldn't believe that _no one_ had found a cure. There must be a cure. Something. _Anything_. I sighed a little sadly and flicked the page, only to read yet another biased opinion on werewolves. Just the usual crap.

_Werewolves are vicious mortifying creatures, and it is advised not to be near any forests or open areas at night near the full moon week stage. Werewolves in their human form a more than likely to attack anyone other than their species when nearing a full moon._

_But, other than the full moon, werewolves in their human form have been known to eat raw meat as a craving for their uglier side. Though it has been a known rumour that the meat is human, no one can really tell what they are eating._

_If you come by a person who shows signs of the lycanthropy disease and feel they are hostile, please notify the Magical Creature Control Patrol, who will take care of it as necessary. _

Eat raw human meat? Are they kidding me? Sure, I like my steak a bit on the rare side, but I've always been pretty sure it was cow. _Stupid Ministry, _I thought bitterly. Checking the back of the book for the author, I snorted in comtempt.

Rita Skeeter. Of course, the new reporter who drives anyone with a juicy back ground to the dirt.

_I didn't realise she was an expert of werewolves, _I thought sarcastically.

The door creaked open and the light smell of lavender and something earthy wafted into the room. Before she even poked her head into the room, I knew it was Hecate. I looked up at her with a small smile.

"Hey Hecate," I greeted softly.

She waved shyly, looked behind her and glanced back at me, "Can I hide in here?"

Curious and confused, I raised a brow, "Sure." Wonder what's going on.

"Thanks." My eyes withdrew back to the book, trying to overlook the fact the Skeeter was ruining every werewolf's image, and I felt the seat dip as another weight was added to the couch.

My eyes flickered in amusement to Hecate who was twiddling her fingers, "You know, I thought that the basis of hiding implied not being seen?"

She smiled in embarrassment, "I know, put I've been hiding behind a wardrobe for the past hour and this couch looked extremely tempting for my sore butt."

I chuckled at her. "Why are you hiding anyway?"

"James." Well I guess that says everything.

"Quidditch?"

"Yup."

Good old James. Enforcing his favourite sport onto any person he sees.

"What did you do to make him chase you?"

"...Told him soccer was better."

I winced sympathetically. "Harsh. I bet he'll cry himself to sleep tonight."

Her eyes widened in horror and her hand shot up to her open mouth. The sight caused me to start laughing at her. She soon found me unamusing.

"Sarcasm Caty," I chuckled, her nickname slipping off my tongue easily, "Learn it before it's too late and you have Slytherins on your tail. Although...I guess that would piss them off even more – hah maybe you should – What?" I halted, unnerved by her shocked and awed expression. "Did I say something...?"

"Yes," she breathed, green eyes sparkling.

"Uh..."

"You said my name!" She squealed, hardly holding in her excitinment.

"Am I missing someth – Holy!" I was cut off as she tackled me off the couch.

We hit the ground hard, but because I don't wind easily and Hecate was on top of me, we weren't hurt. I gave her a queer look, frozen to the ground and not knowing what to do. Hecate was still hugging me tightly.

"Hecate?" I choked out.

She sat up, straddling my waist, "You said my name! You said it right! You said Caty, but everyone else says Caty! You said it right! I am _so_ relieved someone actually pronounced my name right – Oh I could kiss you."

Blushing I held out a hand, "Please don't. And...Could you get off of me?"

She rolled her eyes and stood, then held out her hand to me. "Why do I feel like you're the girl in the relationship?"

_What is she on about?_

"Wha – Relationshi – _Huh_?" I stammered, hesitating before grabbing her hand.

"You see, you get flustered over _everything_." She sighed dramatically, taking my arm and towing me up with ease.

"Why do I have the horrible feeling you've been around Sirius and James too much?" I said suspiciously.

She grinned evilly, "Oh please. You should be worried that they spend too much time with _me_."

For some reason, I felt this was true. And kind of scary – Merlin knows what the Slytherins will go through if another Sirius pops up and joins the evil duo. Peter and I are there to hold them back sometimes, but I don't think we could stop them if Hecate got involved. Shudder.

"Aw, Moony, you look nervous," Hecate's eyes twinkled in a way like Dumbledore's.

"Since when did you call me Moony?" I questioned.

She faltered, "Oh, am I not allowed? Is this your thing or something?"

I began to feel bad, but I had to set her straight, "Well, I mean, you can – it's just that...there's a lot of meaning behind our nicknames. I'm not sure if you'll understand..."

_Oh Merlin she's probably going to get upset with me or something. Now what do I do?_ But when I looked at Hecate her eyes were unnervingly knowing and she gave me an incredibly gentle smile.

"It's OK. I understand Remus." She said softly. "I guess I'm not trustworthy enough for the whole secret behind your nicknames, huh?"

I frowned. _Does she know? She can't know – she only came here. But maybe they lied...No way – who follows everyone around and documents them? That would take too much time...Then – what? What does it all mean? Am I reading into things, too much? That could very well be it..._

It seemed like she did know. Those eyes were so...compassionate. I basically told her to shove off and she _understands?_ Where is the freaking out? The previous peppy and random girl was replaced by someone who looked ahead of her time.

It was weird.

"Well – for now I'll go with mooning first years," She grinned mischievously, snapping quickly back to the Hecate I came to know.

I flushed, "I do _not_ moon first years!"

"Hey, I'm not saying _anything_. People have their hobbies."

"B-b-but – _believe_ me! It has nothing to do with mooning!"

"Ah huh, and Sirius doesn't have bunions."

"HE DOESN'T!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Moony. Pfft..."

"I DO _NOT_ MOON FIRST YEARS!"

"Jeesh, I get it."

"Thank you!"

"So second years are your thing?"

I am going to _murder_ this woman – maybe that'll make Skeeter happy? I can see the front cover now – Mental Illness or Murderer? English Werewolf with a Taste for Americans. Worst last day of summer _ever_.

**(-/-)**

**Sorry this chappy is very short. It was more of a filler than anything else. I started out wanting to build the relationship with James and Hecate but found myself delving into Remus. He is a surprisingly easy character to get into. Unlike James who I can't seem to wrap my head around – all I think, when I hear James, are Quidditch, brotherly and Lily. But he isn't so shallow and I can't work out his character! Dammit. **

**So I ended up building more of a friendship between Remus and Hecate, which I didn't plan but it seems to work. Nods. I like it. Now the next chappy is obviously Hogwarts!**

**Oh I've been looking forward to this! Hogwarts Hogwarts Hoggy Warty Hogwarts ~ Teach us something please ~**

**And I'm making a whole new Sorting Hat poem just for you guys.**


	6. The Sorting Hat

**-Hecate's POV-**

Dorea once again enveloped me and Anna into a hug, despite the fact that there was five minutes left till the train departed from the station. Most of Kings Cross Station had been cleared out – a majority of its occupants being students – but the few that were there were simply parents of first years watching their little boy or girl leave for a boarding school far away from them. I realised I was being stared at through the train windows and that James was finding this beyond amusing, but I decided to not let them get to me. I was having a precious moment.

I guess to Dorea, me and Anna are her new first years. Technically speaking it was a true enough statement. It was our first year at Hogwarts after all.

"Mum," James chided after he thought Anna and I had been through enough, "We have a train to catch and – Oh Merlin's saggy pants there's three minutes left!"

"Language James," Charlus frowned at his son.

"Er, sorry dad," James apologised hastily. "Mum _please_. Do you want them to miss their first day at Hogwarts? It's a special occasion."

"Dorea sweetheart," Charlus admonished gently, "You're acting worse than when we left James."

From the corner of my eye I saw James' expression as he remembered the incident and I chuckled throatily at him. A gush of air entered my lungs sharply as the tight arm that was strangling me eventually loosened and let go. I pulled back to see a red faced and muddled Anna, who seemed as though the air was her most treasured gift, and a close to tears Dorea.

"But Charlus… I'm so worried." Dorea bit her lip and smiled a watery smile at us, long brunette hair blowing across her face slightly, forcing her to push it back.

"We'll be fine Dorea," Anna wheezed out, managing a smile. "We have three very capable boys at our beck and call."

_Beck and call indeed, _I thought wryly.

Charlus chuckled, wrapping a comforting arm around his wife. "Indeed they do. They're in safe hands love. Dumbledore is there as well – so what is there to worry about?"

Well I didn't feel so sure about Dumbledore being able to keep Death Eaters out of Hogwarts (I mean, _hello_ sixth book ring a bell? OK sure there was secret teleportation involved but still, Dumbledore should have outmanoeuvred Malfoy sooner. I was not letting that happen again) and by the looks of it Anna wasn't too sure herself. But it's not like we would say anything (poor Dorea might have a heart attack). Besides – I am an all powerful teenage witch, I'm sure I can handle a couple of Death Eaters. Maybe even Voldy? I bet he hasn't had to dodge lightning before.

"But what if someone… _finds out_." Dorea whispered.

"It's not like we're all just going to enter Hogwarts telling everything to everyone, now is it?" James said sarcastically sounding a little offended. "No one will know."

"And that…includes Peter." Anna said slowly, watching James cautiously. "Right James?"

James turned to her in shock and opened his mouth to protest but a loud whistling sound interrupted him and I watched in horror as the train began to move.

"WOULD YOU GITS GET ON?" Sirius screamed at us, him and Remus trying to forcefully keep the train door open.

"HURRY!" James gasped, grabbing the remainder of our luggage and tossing it into the train, knocking Sirius over in the process.

"Oh you nasty little – !" Sirius swore.

"Go!" James shoved Anna forward.

She stumbled, but knowing the situation, quickly gathered herself and sprinted to the door, suavely hopping through the gap that was slowly shrinking as Remus and Sirius began to lose the fight against the door. With a short glance at each other James and I bolted to the quickly speeding up train. I soon out ran James and threw out my hand before leaping to the door – lucky for me Anna was there to grab my outstretched hand and haul me into the train. We fell over in a heap and panted for a bit before collecting ourselves and helping Remus hold back the door. Sirius stood where Anna had been standing for me, and I figured he was motivating James to run faster.

"Come on Prongs!" Sirius encouraged. "What kind of Chaser are you? Aren't you supposed to be agile?"

What kind of motivation is that?

"That's Seeker you nimrod!" James snarled back while trying to keeping up with the train.

"Grab my hand James!"

"I can't reach!"

"Do you _want_ Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup?"

Something flashed in James' eyes. With a wild war cry and a great heaving of his muscled legs, he leapt, crashed into Sirius, and soon the duo ended up like Anna and I had earlier. Remus, Anna and I released the door and fell back onto the duo with a gasp. _That damn door nearly had my fingers!_ I cursed at it. And I may have kicked the door…if I hadn't been tangled with Remus…or was that James' leg? Unfortunately, because we all fell – we ended up like a pretzel. Realising our predicament, we all tried to untangle ourselves.

"Get off me Moony!"

"I'm _trying_ Prongs."

"Careful with that elbow White."

"Shut up or you won't like where it'll end up next, Black."

"Jesus Christ! Whose arm is this?"

"Oh! Sorry Anna that's mine!"

"Where the _hell_ are you touching, James?"

"Sweet Circe!"

"Is it wrong of me to enjoy this situation?" Sirius grinned at Anna and me.

"YES!" We (including James and Remus) yelled at Sirius who grinned at us.

"If you're under James how the hell did your leg get there?"

"Well, Moony, I'm very _flexible_."

"Ugh. Did you _have_ to make that comment?"

"Of course he did. It's Sirius we're talking about."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean Hecate?"

"Exactly what I said."

"Yes I'm free!" James grinned victoriously, moving away from us and punching his fist into the air.

"Good for you Jamie, now help the rest of us unfortunate people." Anna sighed, indicating at the rest of the people pretzel.

"Should I?" James sighed in mock thought.

We frowned at him in annoyance. _That little…!_ I huffed, but then I told myself to calm down and try to de-knot the pretzel. While the rest of them gave out to James, I proceeded in trying to extract my arm from under Remus – I don't know _how_ it got under there. In the process of extracting my arm, I felt a tingling feeling on the back of my neck and reflexively looked up. I froze in shock.

"Uh, guys?" I said, nudging my elbow in Sirius' gut once again.

"Again with that elbow White!"

"_Look_." I hissed.

His attention moved to the hallway and he froze too. He shushed the others and pointed to the hall. Every single student on the train had stopped what they were doing to _watch_ us de-pretzelize ourselves – I wouldn't be surprised if they'd been watching us since James, Anna and I raced for the train. First years through third years (at least I guessed they were third years) were all red in the face, while fourth years only blushed vividly – the older students were sniggering and grinning at us. I noticed, with a flush of embarrassment, that a _lot_ of guys were finding my situation rather…interesting. It didn't help that both Anna and me had changed into our uniforms before we got here.

Our girl intuition flared to life and with a grace and agility we didn't usually have, Anna and I untangled ourselves from the boys, stood and stepped back. We gave each other a significant look before grabbing our things and nervously heading down the train hallway. Hesitantly I glanced back to James.

"Coming Jamie?" I quipped, my voice going up a notch.

People murmured amongst each other in surprise. Apparently, no one called James Jamie. Hmph. Well, ex_cuse_ me.

"Sure thing Caty." Ugh. That damn _nickname_! Deep breath Hecate. Breathe. In. Out.

He grinned, grabbed his luggage, winked at the still tangled Remus and Sirius and jogged up to Anna and me. We smiled at him and headed down the hall in search of an empty compartment, ignoring all the open mouth underclassmen, the leering guys and the glaring girls. Wow. There is so much pressure with popularity – I never realised. Oh, how I wish I was a nerd again, it was a much simpler life – no one gawked at you – or leered for that matter. But I guess with the Marauders hot on my heels I never will be. A nerd, that is.

"OI! You can't just leave us here!" I heard Sirius yell.

We laughed at him, waved and quickened our paced.

"They're ignoring me Remy!"

"I can _see_ that Sirius."

Silly boys.

"Here's a compartment!" Anna said happily, sliding the door to the side and squeezing her luggage through. "OH!"

I glanced inside, wondering what surprised Anna, and saw two girls already sitting there. They sat opposite each other and near the window – obviously not too bothered about the chaos outside this compartment, making me wonder if whether they were used to it. The one on the left side had a tall petite frame, long blonde hair that fell to her waist in many ringlets, deep blue eyes that looked as if she found something funny, flawless pinkish skin and a ready smile. The other girl had wavy brown hair (lighter than my dark chocolate hair) that barely reached past her shoulder, a slight tan and a sweet face that held two gorgeous brown eyes. They were both extremely pretty and I find it sad to admit that it was a big blow to my female ego.

They blinked at us in surprise and then waved awkwardly.

"Uh, sorry…can we sit here?" Anna asked, shifting back and forth on her feet in embarrassment.

"Sure." They shrugged with a small glance at each other.

We piled in, tossing our luggage up onto the cupboard above the seats and sat. James didn't sit though which left me and Anna lifting our brows at him.

"Sorry, can't sit." He grinned cheekily. "Prefect things to do."

"Well if it isn't James Potter," The blonde girl grinned, a beautiful Scottish burr engulfing her words, "How did you get back into Hogwarts? I was sure McGonagall had enough of you."

"Hello Marlene, lovely to see you too." James replied with wink.

She laughed heartily, "Oh you know I love you Potter."

"You have to," James smirked slowly, "Because I made Captain."

The girl named Marlene paled a bit. "You didn't…Oh sweet Circe is our team in for a ride…" But she soon grinned, jumped up and hugged him, surprising the hell out of me. "Well done Potter! You better win the Cup you hear me?"

James grinned, "It's a no brainer."

"Who are your friends Potter?" The brown haired girl smiled at us sweetly.

James managed to get Marlene off of him and stretched out a hand to ruffle mine and Anna's hair. We swatted him away with a scowl. "I'm sure they can introduce themselves! See you Caty! Anna!"

"It's _Caty_!" I growled but he had already left. I try, I really do, but they've all seemed to have adopted me as a cat. I know, my animagus form is a leopard, but still. It's rude.

Marlene and the brown haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"What was that about?" Marlene asked.

I sighed, "You see my nickname is Katy, but with a C. But _everyone_ – except Remus – calls me Caty. It's horrible."

"Is your name Catherine then?" The brown haired girl asked, grinning.

I grinned back, "No. Sorry – I really should introduce myself. Hecate White, nice to meet you."

"Anna Beret, nice to meet you two as well." Anna smiled.

"Beret? As in the hat?" The brown haired girl raised a brown.

Anna pushed her glasses back up her nose, "The very same."

"Well enough about hats," Marlene rolled her eyes and held out her hand to me. "Marlene McKinnon, at your service. Proud Gryffindor of Hogwarts and Quidditch Keeper – well, I hope I still am... Although you might not have wanted to know that, I thought that you might be confused as to why I just hugged Potter. He is – as of now – my Captain." She shuddered slightly, "Oh Merlin I wonder how the try outs will go...He was always a tough one on newbies."

I flicker of recognition ran through me, but I couldn't place her name. A little jump beside me told me that Anna knew this girl, so I decided to leave it for later. Anna and I shook hands with her, pleased we met a nice girl.

"And I am Dorcas Meadowes," The brown haired girl shook our hands with a grin. "The one and only. If you need me you'll find me at Hufflepuff table or the Quidditch pitch. Captain, if you want to know."

This time I knew who I was looking at. I barely concealed my shock, and smiled politely at her. _This_ is Dorcas Meadowes? This beautiful girl? The one that Voldemort kills himself? I was expecting…not this. I made a note in my head that this girl might become an important possible asset.

Perhaps a future member of the Order of Hood has already shown up? A quick glance at Anna showed that she was thinking along the same lines.

"What position?" I asked, interested.

Not that I was getting on a broom any time soon. Shudder.

"Beater," She grinned toothily at my surprise. "I know. No one else expected me to become a beater either, but I have a strong arm."

Does anyone else think she would make a good hitter?

"Scary she is," Marlene clucked her tongue, "You don't want her near a bludger. I'm talking as one with personal experience."

My eyes widened dramatically. "You hit your friend?"

They shrugged, and Dorcas replied, "All's fair in love and war. This is definitely both."

OK. Now I definitely don't want to get on a broom.

"So what House do you want to get into?" Marlene propped an elbow on the windowsill and leaned her head into her hand, giving both Anna and I a curious look.

"Gryffindor," I answered resolutely. There was no way I would end up in any other house…well maybe Ravenclaw…

Marlene grinned approvingly at me. "So at least you've made a new friend."

I grinned back, "Indeed."

Anna smiled at me gently (briefly) and gave up her reply. "Slytherin."

Dorcas and Marlene turned to Anna gobsmacked (again with that funny word) and I'm pretty sure if their mouths dropped any further they would hit the floor.

"S-S-Slytherin?!" Dorcas gasped out. "Are you _crazy_?"

Marlene's brows burrowed, "You do realise the Slytherin's are very harsh people, right? You must have some confidence… Shame, you seem like a nice girl too. What are you then? Pureblood? I never heard of Beret before…"

"Muggleborn." Anna answered breezily. "And so what if I want to go into Slytherin?"

I began to feel worried about Marlene and Dorcas' health. Their eyes were now so far out of their skull that if I looked hard enough I could see their brains.

"Sweety," Dorcas started slowly and I knew this wasn't going to end well, "Slytherin House would eat you up alive. Do you realise what you are talking about?"

Anna regarded her coolly. "Well, Marlene asked where I wanted to go, _not_ where I would go. If I ended up somewhere it would probably be Ravenclaw."

Marlene frowned in confusion, "Why would you want to end up in Slytherin?"

Anna's face closed, "Why is that your business?"

Irritation flashed across Marlene's face and she spoke in a strained politeness. "Well _excuse_ me, Beret."

I sat there awkwardly while Anna and Marlene glared at each other. Anna wasn't one for social skills, but then again neither was I (what's worse is Anna is better than I am). Seconds ticked by as the tension and silence in the compartment grew. Just to make a noise, I cleared my throat but I ended up muffling myself in embarrassment. Dorcas took notice of this opportunity and cleared her throat loudly.

"Um…so Hecate?" Dorcas began nervously, but there was a firmness in her voice. "How did you come to meet Potter? I mean…you look new and I can tell you're _not _a first year, you even sound American…"

Here eyes begged me to continue the conversation and I complied. "Actually Anna and myself are transfers from Aberwraith in Massachusetts – it's quite new so you might not know it. We really wanted to come to Hogwarts because it's supposed to the best school in Europe. We know James because Dumbledore organised us to live in a prefect's house so we could know more about Hogwarts and London and…well everything. Remus and Sirius were staying over so we came to know them too..." I finished awkwardly and hastily added, "Oh, um, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are…"

Why did I have to speak? She asked me how I met James not how my life story went!

Dorcas' eyebrows were slightly raised in surprise but she smiled anyway, "It's OK, I know them. I think everyone knows them. I'm sorry that you got to know one of them." Is that supposed to mean Sirius? "Do you play Quidditch?"

Obviously this question was meant to snap Marlene out of it, and luckily it succeeded. Marlene looked to me in anticipation and I began to feel bad.

"Uh…no I don't…To be honest I would rather take a bludger to the head than get on a broom." I shrugged awkwardly.

They looked at me like I had just told them Johnny Depp was gay. (Oh, sweet Jesus, how horrible would that be?).

"You don't like Quidditch." Marlene said. It wasn't a question.

I laughed nervously, "I like the sport…but I wouldn't play it." And I didn't mention that I preferred soccer. You see, I learn from my mistakes.

I could see that Dorcas and Marlene were trying to successfully process this information and failing (Marlene more than Dorcas) and Dorcas quickly rebounded to Anna in a flickering hope that she would save this already sinking Titanic.

Sorry, honey, no one can save the Titanic.

"How about you?" Dorcas asked hopefully.

Anna gave Dorcas one of her 'There's Nothing More Silly Than Sports' looks and replied, "I never take time off my research. Although Quidditch seems like an amusing -" Amusing? What is amusing about people almost dying? Really people this isn't the Roman times anymore. "– sport I don't think I could get used to it any time soon."

You see that? That right there was _progress_. I know, it's mortifying. I don't know how I'm friends with this girl. I guess it was one of those spontaneous friendships. They do say opposites attract.

Marlene's face held an expression that said 'figures' and she sighed deeply. "I guess Lily found herself another friend."

Anna and I glanced fleetingly at each other and I let Anna take the wheel, not wanting to give the wrong impression. It wouldn't do if Marlene and Dorcas warned Lily away from the two new girls who had a sudden interest in her.

"Lily?" She asked voice perfectly curious.

Dorcas smiled, "Lily Evans. She's our other friend and would've been with us if she hadn't had prefect duties."

Marlene snickered, "I bet she's just _loving_ that right now."

"Why?" Anna asked, a frown barely crinkling her brow.

"Potter," The two girls grinned.

I threw caution to the wind and spoke. "Is that Lily...Evans?"

Surprised, Marlene turned to me. "You know her?"

I could practically feel Anna's X-ray stare and tried not to show my nervousness, "Well...Jamie talks about her a lot. Nice things, I promise," I added hastily.

Suddenly Dorcas burst out laughing, "Oh of course! I should have known that Potter would brag to the first person he saw. Wait until Lily hears this."

"What does he say?" Marlene leaned forward, eyes alight.

I felt something inside me twist sharply. I really _hate_ gossiping. Especially when James talked to me in confidence.

"Sorry, private." I said apologetically while I really wasn't that sorry. I stared her down, daring her to ask again.

Marlene flinched slightly and leaned back sharply, muttering a hurried apology, confusing the rest of the compartments occupants. Wow I really need to work on my social skills.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's private," Someone drawled from behind me, causing me to jump in shock and press myself against the seat, wand poised dangerously in the voice's direction.

Sirius continued like nothing had occurred, "Anyone can guess what James was saying about ol' Evans."He then sat right next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me too close for comfort. I frowned at him and tried to disengage his arm.

How strong is he?

"Sirius would you leave Hecate alone," Remus said, seating himself beside Anna and fixing his tie.

"I see you got out alive," Anna drawled wryly, a smirk playing on her lips.

Remus flashed a smile in her direction and chuckled, "It was a close one. I got out before a fifth year decided to take pictures." He shuddered.

Sirius laughed, "Aw come on, I bet we could've made it on to a Muggle modelling poster."

"More like a pornography poster." I muttered none too quietly, making Sirius and Remus flush – well, Remus more than Sirius but that was only because Sirius was way too good with his expressions.

At least I hope.

Dorcas and Marlene laughed heartily at that and the previous tension melted away like ice in Africa. The rest of the train ride was pretty much the same and maybe a little better – I hardly realised that I was relaxed more in Remus and Sirius' presence but I guess that was to be expected – I mean, I _have_ spent almost an entire summer with the two, I'd be surprised if I wasn't relaxed with them. It'd be kind of weird. I _also_ noticed Anna looked slightly flushed with Remus sitting right next to her and the two seemed like they were trying to ignore one another. Again, something Black and I didn't miss – I knew that Sirius didn't miss it either because we happened to share a look.

Not that we were looking at each other often. Don't get any ideas - it was just one of those moments. Kapeshe (**A/N sorry I don't know how to spell that**)?

The banter that went back and forth between Sirius and Marlene was funny to watch too. It seemed the two had a history that was known throughout Hogwarts (which I was informed about through Dorcas who sat on my right) and had started when Sirius decided to make Marlene his first flirting target in second year (in my opinion I thought that was a bit young to start flirting – Have you ever been hit on by a twelve year old?) but it didn't exactly end well for him. It might have been the fact that she was a year older than him (Marlene is in seventh year, at the present date) or the fact that he had an even bigger ego as a child than he did now (which I found hard to imagine) but somehow – by a reason no one has yet discovered – Sirius ended up hanging for his life off the side of a Quidditch goal post.

In the fits of my giggles and Sirius' furious red face, Remus managed to lean across and tell me that's why Sirius doesn't play Quidditch without tipping off Sirius in the process. It was a wonder how Sirius even managed to give a retort in reply to Dorcas' considerate sharing of knowledge (note the sarcasm) because I felt as though his head would pop if he spoke another word.

Not long after James decided to grace us with his presence and took a seat in between Sirius and I. Although he looked casual about it I knew he had some ulterior motive, but when I scowled at him for being childish, he just grinned innocently at me and winked. Oh yeah, and then he glared at Sirius. It was probably the arm that pissed him off. Sigh. Over-protective Jamie. Of course Remus found this incredibly amusing while Anna looked at us like we were three year olds fighting (a mixture of fondness and stern) and Dorcas and Marlene seemed confused.

Before any questions were asked in walked a pretty girl. She was tall (at least if you compared her to me and Anna) and slender. She held herself in a proud, confident way you wouldn't see in most girls and the defiant, wise look in her green eyes basically said you shouldn't cross this girl. She was pretty – beautiful even – with clear porcelain skin, perfectly symmetrical features and dead straight red hair that seemed to shimmer and glow as if were really on fire. Who was it? Lily Evans. How I knew? James immediately stopped glaring at Sirius to gape at this stranger in awe.

If that didn't say Lily Evans I'd be scared to see how he would react to someone else. So, yeah. I'm pretty sure it is Lily Evans.

Lily's emerald eyes assessed the compartment, lightening when she recognised Marlene and Dorcas, softening when they landed on Remus, becoming puzzled when they landed on Anna and I, hardening when the noticed a grinning Sirius before finally halting at the still gaping James.

I recoiled. _She looks angry._

Lily viewed James with distaste. "Please close your mouth Potter. No one wants to see what goes on in there."

Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously but he swallowed his contempt. _Uh...Rude much?_ I thought. I noticed that Anna was giving Lily a very calculating look – I wasn't entirely sure if that was good or not.

James' mouth immediately snapped shut and he blushed slightly in hurt but hid it with an easy grin. "You sure Evans? I was kind of hoping you'd want to know."

My brows furrowed in horror. _WHAT KIND OF REPLY IS THAT?!_

Lily rolled her eyes and sat next to Marlene, inadvertently sitting beside Anna who was still analysing things. "Stop while you're ahead Potter. You're not as funny as you think."

James leaned toward Sirius with a mocking frown. "Really, Pads? I thought I was hilarious."

Sirius grinned, "You've never been funny Prongs. We just laughed so your ego didn't get wounded."

James put on a mock-affronted demeanour. "I say Sir! How dare thee mock me! I do say Sir, never again shall I Count Jameson Lancelot, consider you, Sir Sirius de Minnie-Padfootson, an ally!"

Sirius puffed up his chest and exclaimed in a equally affronted voice, "What gave you that idea that I, Sir Sirius de Minnie-Padfootson was _ever_ your ally? Why, only yesterday, I had a secret meeting with Sir Moony of Lupin!"

James gasped loudly and spun on an amused Remus. "_Lupin_! Of all the Sirs and Counts in the Kingdom of Hogwarts you side with Sir Moony? _No_."

"_Yes!_" Sirius replies pompously.

"How could you?!"

"It was quite simple actually. All I had to was owl him! Not like _thee_, Sir Lancelot, who never replied!"

"Tis only thrice I forgot Sir Sirius!"

"Tis Sir de Minnie-Padfootson to you."

James gasped again and leaned back, clutching his chest like he was wounded.

Remus sighed, Lily scoffed, Dorcas hid a smile, Marlene rolled her eyes, Anna still looked calculating and I frowned.

"Why does that sound like you two are breaking up?" I voiced.

Remus snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth to hide his laughter. James and Sirius grinned at me. My eyes narrowed on Remus.

"Don't laugh. Weren't you listening? You're the affair."

Dorcas laughed this time, using the crook of her elbow to hide her giggles. Even Lily seemed amused by it. At least I'm getting somewhere.

"But alas!" I gasped out in what sounded like a sob. "Tis tragic when men like thee fall to their own enchantments. Oh Lady Grifter, whatever shall we do?"

Anna clapped a hand to her mouth in horror, "Oh woe is me! I ne'er should have let things go on this far. I knew of what Sir Lancelot had been entrapped in, but I could have not done anything yet watch. Lady Prowler, I shan't speak of it, for fear the truth might shatter what little mind have I been left."

"OH!" I gasped out, dramatically grasping her hand. "Lady Grifter I share your pain, for I am wounded so. Alas, they were great men. But as men go, men come – for where there are good women, there are better men."

"Indeed." Anna spoke thoughtfully. "Stronger."

"Hey," James frowned.

"Smarter." I continued.

Remus frowned at that, "Excuse me."

"More handsome," Anna sighed, giving James a once over.

"HEY!"

Lily, Dorcas and Marlene began to giggle. Even Remus had to smile at that – but stopped because he was glared at.

I stared pointedly at Sirius' feet, "_Bigg –_"

"_Whoa_!" Sirius said seriously (Pfft), raising a hand toward me warningly. "Enough."

Anna and I grinned innocently at them.

"Tis something wrongs, my Lords?" I mocked.

**(-/-)**

The train ride was hilarious at best. Marlene even let my little glaring situation slide. Peter Pettigrew even showed up at some point, having gotten lost and decided to follow the loudest compartment (which I found a little offending, but admittedly clever). He looked remarkably normal for a treacherous bastard (excuse my French) and I had to constantly remind myself that he was still in school and hadn't even got a Dark Mark yet. Still, didn't mean I couldn't be wary. Not that I showed it of course – I'm the Queen of expressions remember?

He seemed similar to the photo in the Potter Manor. Almost uncanny, as it were. Short (around my height), kind of chubby with light blonde hairy and watery blue eyes. He was sort of cute, and very boyish – not at all like the description in the books or movies. But hey, spend thirteen years as a rat and who knows what it'll do to you? He was sweet too, I could easily read that, and easily overlooked which I felt was a drawback. There were a few things I needed to work on with him – confidence being one and his submissiveness being another.

And the way he idolised everything James and Sirius said was bordering on stalker. Oy vey.

I was in one of the carriages now, sitting opposite Lily and next to Dorcas, who was opposite Anna – who in turn was sitting beside Marlene. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not. The Marauders had decided to take another carriage much to Lily's delight and my disappointment, but I figured they wanted to fill in Peter on the new arrivals.

As of now, Lily was being informed on how Anna and I ended up with the likes of James stinkin' Potter (Hey, don't shoot me, that's how she put it). When Anna had finished explaining Lily looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and horror.

"Oh you poor thing." She said sadly, elaborating on the horror part first. "I don't know how you managed to deal with them – well, in fairness, Remus is nice company, but Sirius...and _James_..." She closed her eyes for a second and I had a feeling she was calming herself. "I don't know _how_ you survived."

_You said that already. _"James isn't that bad," I frowned, feeling offended for him. "And Sirius is funny at best and well...Sirius at worst. But you hardly know them."

She blinked in surprise. As did Dorcas and Marlene.

"And Remus is a lot more than 'nice company'," Anna practically snarled. Whoa, touched a nerve there.

"Oh. _Oh_." Lily's hand shot to her mouth. "I'm sorry. You guys are friends. Really, I'm – Oh how rude of me to say that...I guess they're different at home...Oh _of course_ they are..."

I watched her and felt that she was genuine with her apology and forgave her. In fairness, they probably were different at the Potter Manor than in Hogwarts. I shudder to think of _how_ different. I mean, Remus – yeah I get that. James – sure, I can imagine it. Sirius – there is only so much the mind can make up and half of it isn't suitable for kids. Shudder.

"So why did you guys change schools?" Lily offered up, probably trying to make up for her mistake.

I shrugged, not much of a conversation maker. "I didn't really like it, there's only so much of American schooling one can take you know? It's sort of like high school. But with magic."

I was given confused looks in reply. Anna sighed and answered for me, "High school in America is like a death trap for unique individuals. Imagine that – but with Pureblood prejudice."

The three girls eyes widened and they shuddered. I would be scared too – and I haven't even _gone_ to this so called American magic school.

"So," I continued, "Anna and I decided we had enough and wanted a change of scenery, and here we are. Now you Brits are stuck with us."

"There's something I don't get," Dorcas said slowly. "If Aberwraith is in Massachusetts, then how come you two sound completely different?"

Really?

"Aberwraith is like the Hogwarts of America," Anna explained patiently. "Loads of people from all around America would gather to it. It's a dorm too."

Where is Anna getting this knowledge? Did she have some secret talk with Dumbledore? If he did he has some great sense of judgement because I should not be trusted with lying. Trust me. Dorcas nodded and looked like she was going to say something when Lily began to tap my shoulder frantically and point over my shoulder, saying "Look there's Hogwarts. Cool right?"Cool was not the word I would use to describe Hogwarts. I had to use one word it would be:

Gobsmacking.

It was huge, everything the book and movies described it would be and somehow, impossibly, more. Perched right on the Cliffside, with a lake view, endless grounds the ironically ended some way away at a forest that looked dark and mysterious. The castle itself was probably made from stone and although I _could_ describe it, no words would fit what I was seeing at the moment. It was a you had to have been there kind of moment.

And me, being the great master of words, said the appropriate, most spectacular thing I could possibly come up with right then.

"Wow."

**(-/-)**

"Brilliant, isn't it?"

"Should've _seen_ your faces!"

"Don't worry about the Sorting, I'm sure it'll be _fine_."

"Potter don't get them nervous."

"Anything for you Lilypad."

"Honestly _the_ funniest expression I have _ever –_"

"Now is not the time Padfoot."

"What if they can't get Sorted?"

"I'm sure they were _dying_ to hear that Petey."

"Where are they supposed to go?"

"In with the first years?"

"First years? How mortifying!"

"Tactful of you Meadowes. Now look what you've done to her."

"OH! I didn't mean that! You'll be fine Hecate, just great! I'm sure you won't be in Slytherin."

"Dorcas!"

"What is wrong with Slytherin?"

"Why are you so keen on Slytherin Beret?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. _Almost there. The Great Hall isn't far now. Patience is a virtue. _A smaller part of my mind retorted. _Yeah, but you don't have it._ I hate my mind.

"Why are you so against it, McKinnon?"

I rolled my eyes at this. _I'm starting to get nervous. _

"Now, Caty, if you don't get Gryffindor I swea –"

"Prongs!"

"What Remus?"

Here come the jitters.

"You'll be great," Remus hissed in my ear, lightly, obviously trying to calm me down. Maybe it was his extra werewolf senses that tipped him off? Oh God I can't feel my feet. Is this what they mean by getting cold feet?

"Your _faces_ – !"

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

I'm kind of dizzy.

"It's OK," A soft voice whispered and a hand slide into mine. My gaze slipped down to see sky blue staring determinedly and loyally right back at me. The weight lifted slightly and suddenly I could breathe again. I smiled at Anna.

"Ms. Beret, Ms. White you are needed." A stern voice echoed through the Entrance hall.

Oh, too bad, the weight was back. I looked up to see a tall, thin woman in a dark green robe that had a very stern expression on her face. It didn't help my nerves.

"Us?" My voice came out very small and I registered Sirius' snickering in the background. Idiot.

The woman's lips became a line. "Are you either Ms. Beret or Ms. White?"

I nodded and I felt Anna squeeze my hand lightly. I didn't like being put on the spot.

"Then, yes, I was talking about you two." Okay, sorry. No need to be rude.

"You are?" Anna asked as we made our way over the woman.

She quirked a brow, "Minerva McGonagall, but it is Professor McGonagall to you. Come along now, we have long the Sorting is starting."

Surprised, I glanced behind and was shock to find that my friends (I revelled in that fact I could say that) were nowhere to be seen. I shrugged with one shoulder, _they probably went in._ Professor McGonagall led us down a passage way, where I assumed the teachers made their way into the Great Hall and she gestured for us to walk through the door near the end. We did and immediately gasped at the sight. It was beautiful, streamers the flashed different colours for the different Houses hung from the enchanted ceiling which looked like a cloudy sky right now. The four tables, representing the four Houses, were lined vertical to the Great Hall giant doors and parallel to each other. The High Table was horizontal to the other tables. The students were chatting amongst themselves vigourisly and I saw the Marauders near the end of the table, probably seated there so they could welcome Anna and I if we ended up in Gryffindor.

Dumbledore saw Anna and I come in and stood (after nodding at us merrily), raising his hands. "Let the Sorting begin."

Immediately every student's eyes went to the old, tall, battered hat that lay on the stool in front of the High Table. I noticed that no one had seen Anna and I yet – I could tell by the disappointed looks on the Marauders (bar Peter) faces. If anyone saw us first, it would be them.

A sharp jab at my side and a head jerk from Anna brought my attention back to the hat. Which had begun to move. Worse. It began to speak.

"_I may not look the nicest_

_But you've yet to be surprised_

_I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_There is no better than I._

_Do not worry if I Sort you wrong,_

_I hardly ever do._

_I've seen all sorts of students come and go,_

_I'm sure I'll Sort you true._

_Perhaps you'll be in Gryffindor,_

_The bravest of them all,_

_They take pride in their chivalry_

_Like warriors of old._

_Or maybe it is Hufflepuff_

_Where loyalty is true_

_Those kind honest hearts of Hufflepuff_

_Have very little to rue._

_Maybe it is Ravenclaw_

_Where you will find your home_

_If you want wit and bright minds_

_You'll never be alone._

_Or is it dear Slytherin_

_Where you are fated to be?_

_Their ambition and cunning minds_

_Surpass the other three._

_Before you come and put me on_

_Keep these few words in mind_

_Though I divide you each today_

_Always stay intertwined._

'_A House divided cannot stand'_

_These wise words will help during wrongs,_

_Stay together and do not bend_

_To the Siren's song."_

The song from the Sorting Hat left silence throughout the Great Hall for a time, before someone – who I suspiciously thought was James – began to clap and whistle loudly, getting the rest of the Hall to clap soon after. It was clever of that person – cough, James, cough.

"Now, let's begin." McGonagall stepped onto the stage and began calling out first year names. None really stood out for me, although I thought I heard 'Lockhart' somewhere and I think the first year went to Ravenclaw. Althought how _he_ ended up in Ravenclaw...I'm not so sure.

When the Sorting was finished, Dumbledore stood again. "New students, welcome. Old students, welcome back! Now I know you are all hungry but before we begin our feast I have an announcement to make. This year, we have two new students from America joining us for their last few school year. Sixth years, you get all the excitement, because they are in _your_ year and are about to be Sorted right now." Almost immediately the Hall erupted into chatter, but Bumblebee was having none of that. "_Silence_." The Great Hall went into a hush and Dumbedore smiled.

"Minerva, if you please."

She nodded, "Now girls, like I said before. When I call you please come up here, to be Sorted into your House." She cleared her throat, but I already knew who was first. "Beret, Anna."

Anna stepped forward, her face a mask of serenity, but the shaking of her hands told me otherwise. Great. Was that hand holding for me or her? She sat elegantly onto the stool and gripped it tightly. I could see her pale and worry over all the things that could go wrong as she was scrutinised by almost every student in the Great Hall. It felt as though everyone was holding their breath. For a long time. I almost felt like looking at an invisible watch but the Hat decided to speak at the precise moment:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

What? _Hufflepuff_? Hufflepuff. Really? Maybe Slytherin sure, but Hufflepuff? Out of _all_ the Houses – Hufflepuff?! Well Dorcas is in there too...I glanced at the Gryffindor table and the Marauders looked as confused as me. And a little worried. Suddenly it dawned on me.

Where would I end up?

The Hufflepuff table erupted into cheers and I thought I saw Dorcas hopping up and down waving at Anna. Anna calmly made her way down to the table and seated herself beside a pretty brunette – oh so it was Dorcas.

"White, Hecate!" McGonagall called and I shakingly took a step towards the stool.

Left. Right. Left. Right. Sit. Place Hat on head. And as soon as the Hat slipped over my eyes, I breathed out. Calm washed over me, as easy as that. Weird all it would take was a magical hat.

_Well, well..._ it muttered, _what do we have here? Immense power I see. _

_No kidding. _I snorted mentally.

_Witty too..._The Hat answered dryly. _But...you aren't remotely interested in power. You like the shadows. Hmm...Clever, not unlike your friend...but you have a way of thinking that she doesn't...Different, hmmm..._

I waited for it to finish it's mumbling. _You done?_

_If only impatience were a House trait, I'm sure you'd be Head of it. _

I frowned. _Hey. _

_What's this? Innocence...Brave too...Naive... _I was starting to think it would just list off my personality.

_Just put me somewhere!_

_Patience...Hmm...Very powerful...Hmm..._

I began to get nervous. Okay, I got it. I had chaotic abilities. Yes, I am a very stealthy and secretive person. Yes I prefer background positions. I was starting to feel like the Hat would put me in Slytherin. Maybe that wouldn't be _so_ bad...No! Stop it!

_Hmmm, what's this?...Alright then..._Sorry?

The Hat opened his mouth and I felt the tension in the room rise tenfold.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

My relief was answered with a booming applause.

**(-/-)**

**Sorry I took forever. Holidays. I might not be writing for a while – a special school year coming up. Junior Cert. For those of you **_**not**_** from Ireland, let's just say it's a mini SAT exam.**

**I hope you liked this chappy! I made the Sorting Hat poem myself.**


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